Woman infected with two COVID-19 strains dies, raising questions about risks of co-infection

The coronavirus mutates rapidly, with new variants being detected daily as the virus replicates multiple times in an infected individual. At present, the Delta variant first detected in India in October 2020 is poised to assume global dominance due to its rapid spread.

The case of a 90-year-old woman who died after being infected with two variants of COVID-19 raises new questions about the rare phenomenon of double infection, as well as the effectiveness of the vaccine, according to a Bloomberg report that follows to a revelation by Belgian researchers.

The research paper, presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases this week, found that the woman in question died at the OLV hospital in the Belgian city of Aalst in March.

The woman, who was not vaccinated, lived alone and received nursing care at home. She was admitted to the hospital with good oxygen levels but died five days as her respiratory symptoms rapidly worsened. Tests revealed that she was infected with two strains of COVID-19 – the alpha variant which was first detected in the UK and the beta strain found in South Africa.

“These two variants were circulating in Belgium at the time, so it is likely that the lady was co-infected with different viruses from two different people,” said Anne Vankeerberghen, a molecular biologist at the OLV hospital who headed the research.

According to the biologist, the global occurrence of this double infection phenomenon has been “probably underestimated” due “to the limited testing for variants of concern and the lack of a simple way to identify co-infections with whole genome sequencing “.

“Watching out for co-infections remains crucial,” added Vankeerberghen.

The case raises questions about the effectiveness of vaccines against multiple variants of COVID-19 coexisting in a single individual. The Delta variant, first detected in India in October 2020, is currently considered a major variant of concern around the world due to its contagious nature. It is spreading around 225% faster than the original version of SARS-CoV-2 and is now dominating epidemics in the UK and US. Doubly vaccinated people are still believed to be protected against the need for hospitalization and serious illnesses caused by this variant, but there are more questions about other mutations, especially with the Lambda variant, which was first detected. in Peru, which is now making headlines as designated by the WHO “variant of interest”.