Corona 19 virus electron micrograph. [사진 = 연합뉴스]There is a case in the UK that has tested positive for COVID-19 for more than 16 months.
Foreign media such as the BBC reported on the 22nd (local time) that a British patient had been infected for more than 505 days following contracting COVID-19 in early 2020.
Researchers at St Thomas’ Hospital in the UK present the cases of patients who have had the Corona 19 virus for a long time at the European Medical Association for Infectious Diseases. The researchers said the patient had been infected for the longest period of time so far.
The patient was prescribed antiviral drugs, but the viral infection did not go away and he eventually died last year. The researchers did not reveal the cause of death. The researchers said that the genetic analysis showed that the patient was not infected multiple times, but that the infection continued. This is different from the sequelae that persist even following the infection is gone.
The announcement included nine cases of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 for more than eight weeks. They had weakened immune systems due to organ transplants and cancer. The average duration of infection was 73 days, and two patients had been infected for more than a year.
The Associated Press reported that the findings show the importance of protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19.
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