That should be a world record: A man in Great Britain tested positive for the corona virus for 411 days before finally overcoming the infection – also thanks to a remedy that Donald Trump already trusted.
In Great Britain, a patient has been cured of his corona infection after 13 months. The man tested positive for Sars-Cov-2 for 411 days before he finally recovered, British researchers report in a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The case is believed to be the longest infection with the virus that a human has survived.
Patient received the same corona medicine as Donald Trump
According to British media, the anonymous 59-year-old, who had already had a kidney transplant, first tested positive for Covid-19 in December 2020. Immunosuppressive drugs, designed to ensure his body doesn’t reject his new kidney, would have affected his ability to fight the infection. Although the symptoms subsided, all subsequent tests continued to be positive through January 2022.
Doctors treating Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London are reportedly not aware of any other documented case of a person recovering from such a long infection. dr Luke Snell, an infectious disease expert at the hospital, had previously treated a patient with Covid for 505 days but he died.
Based on a genetic analysis, Snell found that the 59-year-old had contracted the B.1 variant that was prevalent at the end of 2020 and adjusted the antibody treatment accordingly. The patient received Regeneron, the same drug that helped then-President Donald Trump fight the disease two years ago. Such treatments are not effective against newer corona variants such as Omikron, which is why they are no longer used frequently.
Persistent corona infections are different from long covid and recurring infections. They occur in a small number of patients with a weakened immune system. These people could be corona positive for months or even years while the infection “smolders all the time,” Snell told AFP news agency.
“Some people with a weakened immune system are still at risk of becoming seriously ill and becoming permanently infected. We are still working to find out how best to protect and treat them,” the doctor said. “Some new variants of the virus are resistant to all antibody treatments available in the UK and Europe.”
Sources: , AFP
Source: Stern
