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There have been sporadic reports of people re-infected with the coronavirus after testing negative, but one was infected 3 times during a grueling and deadly 154-day battle with the infection.
In a new case report, doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital describe the suffering of a 45-year-old man, who suffered from a severe autoimmune disease and who appeared to be confronted with the virus on multiple occasions.
Despite the intensive treatment, the virus remained with the unknown man for 154 days. He mutated with frightening and unusual speed inside his body, which was not as well equipped to fight infection as the average person.
Health officials explained that people with weakened immune systems should stay at home as much as possible and be especially careful not to contract the coronavirus.
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But the case study shows how dangerous Covid-19 is for immunocompromised people – and how they can become dangerous reservoirs for the virus to mutate inside, before it spreads to others.
The man suffered from a condition called antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), an autoimmune disease in which the body produces untargeted antibodies that attack important blood proteins that prevent unnecessary clotting, rather than pathogens.
It’s unclear how common this disease is, but researchers believe it may cause up to 1 percent of all blood clots and up to 20 percent of strokes in people. people under 50.
The man described in the case report, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), also suffered complications from an autoimmune disease, in which the blood vessels in the lungs bleed.
In an effort to preserve these life-threatening conditions, the man was taking blood thinners, stimulants, and drugs that suppress the immune system, which put him at risk of contracting the coronavirus for several reasons.
He was admitted to the hospital with a fever and quickly tested positive for the coronavirus.
Doctors began treating the man with a five-day course of remdesivir, an antiviral drug, and increased the steroid dose for fear he might bleed into the air sacs of his lungs, due to his pre-existing condition. .
On the fifth day, he was released from the hospital and did not need supplemental oxygen.
But his improved condition did not last long. For the next 62 days, he was supposed to be in isolation at home, but instead was taken to the hospital three times due to abdominal pain, difficulty breathing, and exhaustion.
Each time, his blood oxygen level was below normal and his doctors were on high alert with pulmonary hemorrhage.
However, his SARS-CoV-2 viral load decreased over a 62-day period – an encouraging sign that he will clear the infection.
But 105 days after his first diagnosis, it was found that the man was again suffering from the same problems and a higher viral load “, which raised fears that” Covid-19 “could be repeated again, according to the authors of the study.
He received another Remdesivir treatment and tested negative for Corona virus after that, but he did not get out of the case and continued the treatment.
A little over a month later, he tested positive again, which raised concerns about a third recurrence of “Covid-19”. And this time, I’m giving Regeneron an experimental antibody cocktail.
A week after receiving the antibody drug, the man had to be put on a ventilator. His viral load turned out to be almost as high as the previous test suggested, and he developed a fungal infection in his lungs.
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Despite being treated with more remdesivir and an antifungal drug, he died 154 days after his first positive test.
And when the researchers sequenced the genome of the virus that had infected humans, they found an alarming development.
Not only does it appear to have been in his body for over 150 days, but the Corona virus mutated faster than what scientists noticed is occurring in most samples.
Most of the changes were in the part of the genome that codes for the spiky protein, the protruding elements on the surface of the virus that allow it to infect human cells.
“Although most immunocompromised people get rid of SARS-CoV-2 infection effectively, this case highlights the potential for persistent infection and accelerated viral development associated with weakened immune status,” wrote the authors of the study.
It is not known whether mutations in Prickly Protein, the viral strain that researchers have found in humans, will make it more or less contagious, more deadly, or more resistant to treatment.
But this case is a worrying reminder that people – especially those with weakened immune systems – can be reservoirs, in which the virus can grow into a stronger form, it can spread to others, and potentially avoid it. treatments and vaccines.
Source: Daily Mail
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