The unprecedented case of the deceased woman infected with two variants of Covid-19 at the same time

90-year-old woman died in Belgium after falling ill with British and South African variants of Covid-19 at the same time, a rarity that surprised scientists. The woman, who lived alone and received nursing care at home, had not received the covid vaccine and was admitted on March 3 to a hospital in the Belgian city of Aalst, about 27 kilometers from Brussels, after a series of falls in March.

The very day of her hospitalization, the woman tested positive for Covid-19. While his oxygen levels were initially good, his condition rapidly deteriorated and he died five days later. When medical staff assessed a disturbing variant, they discovered it carried both the strain Alpha, originally from Great Britain, as a variant Beta first detected in South Africa.

Researchers believe this is the first documented case of its kind and warn that, although rare, more double infections can occur. “Both variants were circulating in Belgium at the time, so it is likely that the woman was co-infected with different viruses from two different people.” say it Molecular Biology Anne Vankeerberghen of the OLV Hospital, who conducted the investigation.

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“This is one of the first documented cases of co-infection with two disturbing variants of SARS-CoV-2,” said Vankeerberghen. And he added that “no other cases” of similar co-infections have been published and that the “phenomenon is probably underestimated.”

“Both variants were circulating in Belgium at that time (March 2021), so it is likely that she was co-infected by two people. Unfortunately, we don’t know how she got infected.”added Dr Vankeerberghen.

Quoted by the British press, Lawrence Young, virologist and professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, said it was not surprising to find an individual infected with more than one strain: “This study highlights the need for more studies to determine whether infection with multiple worrisome variants affects the course of clinic of Covid-19 and whether this in any way compromises the effectiveness of vaccination “.

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The British variant, commonly known as Kentish and scientifically B.1.1.7 or strain Alfa, was first found in the south-east of England and dates back to September 2020. It has 23 mutations, some of which change the shape of the spike protein on the outside.

The main mutation of the strain Alfa is known as N501Y, which seems to make it more able to attach to cells inside the body and make it more likely to cause infection and spread faster. Studies in the UK have shown that it is 50 to 70 percent more infectious than the normal strain.

For its part, the South African variant, Beta or B.1.351, was discovered in Nelson Mandela Bay, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, in mid-December. It carries 21 mutations, including E484K and N501, which suggest it is more infectious than the previous version of Covid.

Both variants have already spread to around 50 and 40 countries respectively.

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