Telha
This 72-year-old individual, whose identity remains undisclosed, first tested positive for the Omicron variant in February 2022, as per findings from the University of Amsterdam, as reported by Time. His enduring battle with the virus set a new record for the longest-known infection duration, leaving researchers astounded.
Suffering from a pre-existing blood disorder prior to contracting COVID, the patient’s immune system faltered in generating adequate white blood cells or antibodies to combat the virus, despite receiving multiple vaccine doses.
While most individuals typically overcome the virus within weeks, conventional medical interventions proved futile in alleviating his condition.
Medical professionals discovered that the patient had developed resistance to Sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody used in early COVID treatment, after numerous nose and throat swabs failed to yield a solution.
Furthermore, it became evident that the patient’s immune response was insufficient in eradicating the virus, with minimal anti-spike antibody development observed within the first month. Tragically, the patient succumbed to his weakened immune system and underlying blood disorder, passing away in a hospital during the autumn of 2023.
Remarkably, the virus underwent nearly 50 mutations while persisting in the patient’s body, eventually giving rise to an ultra-mutated variant, as per reports. Fortunately, there were no indications that this Frankenstein-esque mutation had spread to other individuals.
Although the prospect of a 20-month-long COVID infection resulting in mutation may evoke apprehension, Magda Vergouwe, a medical student from Amsterdam University Medical Center, who is set to present the case at the ESCMID Global Congress in Barcelona, emphasized the extreme nature of the infection duration.
