They are investigating the case of a Belgian woman infected simultaneously with two strains of Covid-19

On March 3, 2021, the 90-year-old woman, with no particular medical history and not vaccinated, was admitted to a hospital in the Belgian city of Aalst after several falls, according to this case study, presented to the congress and peer-reviewed of your selection committee.

The nonagenarian, who tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival, initially had “a good level of oxygen saturation and no sign of respiratory distress”, according to ECCMID. However, “he quickly developed worsening respiratory symptoms and died five days later,” the statement said.

According to the biologist from the OLV hospital in Aalst, “It is difficult to say whether the co-infection with two variants played a role in the rapid deterioration of the patient’s condition.”

During extensive testing and sequencing, the hospital discovered that it had been infected with two strains of the SARS CoV 2 virus, which causes Covid-19: one originating in Britain, called Alpha, and the another initially detected in South Africa, called Beta.

“The two variants were circulating in Belgium at the time (March 2021), so it is likely that the woman was co-infected by two different people. Unfortunately it is not known how she was infected”added Dr Vankeerberghen.

Until the date, “there have been no other published cases” of co-infections with two variants, says researcher Vankeerberghen, who considers “crucial” to continue to sequence and study a phenomenon “probably underestimated”.

Two cases of people infected with two different variants present in Brazil were reported in January in a study, which “has yet to be published by a scientific journal,” according to ECCMID.