2024-04-20 10:23:44
A 72-year-old man from the Netherlands has died following suffering from Corona for a total of 613 days. Particularly scary: the virus had previously mutated around 50 times in his body.
The Dutch pensioner was infected with the Omicron variant BA.1.17 in February 2022 and was treated at the University Hospital Amsterdam.
► He had a weakened Iimmune system and died in autumn 2023 from an underlying illness. The researchers would like to present their results at a congress in Barcelona next weekend.
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Antibodies didn’t stand a chance
Although he has several Covid vaccines received, the patient did not respond to antibody treatments on admission to hospital.
The researchers found that the virus developed a resistance mutation just 21 days following receiving the drug “Sotrovimab”. This means that the virus has quickly adapted to the active substance to fight it.
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► The patient had a bone marrow disease that affected his stem cells and red blood cells. Then he also developed leukemia. He had to take so-called immunosuppressants for the treatment to work. These suppress the immune system. It was therefore unable to counteract the virus with natural antibodies.
For Science The development is nothing new, but the length of Infection in 613 days exceptional. The case is an example of what the virus is capable of if it stays in the body for too long and can multiply once more and once more.
In patients who have long Covid course the virus can travel from the lungs via the blood to other organs. There it uses its reproduction to test which mutation works best – without the immune system turning it off.
Another risk to the population?
What sounds worrisome is a random process. The longer the virus remains in a body that is already producing antibodies, the more mutations can occur that are not recognized and captured by antibodies. They are also excreted through digestion and end up in the waste water.
The researchers in Amsterdam warn that the development of SARS-CoV-2 in immunocompromised people with persistent infections should be closely monitored. Because the mutations are a potential threat to public health.
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