Researchers at the Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine at the University of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, have presented the longest Covid-19 case ever recorded. A 72-year-old man tested positive for the virus for approximately 613 days and died in October 2023.
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Emergence of new variant
- The man, whose nationality and identity were not revealed, had previous health problems and was infected with the Ômicron variant.
- Over the course of the infection, he developed more than 50 mutations.
- According to experts, this has led to the emergence of a new, highly genetically modified variant of the virus.
- The case was described during the Congress of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Barcelona.
- The information is from UOL.
Covid-19 remained in the man’s body for more than 600 days
The patient was admitted to the Amsterdam University Medical Center in February 2022 with Sars-CoV-2 infection. At the time, he was taking immunosuppressants as part of treatment for blood cancer.
During treatment, he was using a medication that eliminates B lymphocytes (white blood cells), including those that normally produce antibodies to fight the Covid-19 virus. Despite having received several doses of vaccines against the disease, the elderly man did not have specific IgG antibodies and his immune system was unable to eliminate the virus.
Based on analyzes of the samples collected, the researchers concluded that the coronavirus has developed resistance to sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody treatment that is usually effective in mild and moderate cases of the disease.
The man died due to a return of the hematological condition after remaining positive for Sars-CoV-2 with high viral loads for a total of 613 days, with multiple symptomatic episodes and the need for hospitalization.
The persistent infection also led the patient to prolonged periods of isolation during hospitalization and the intensive use of personal protective materials, significantly reducing his quality of life.
