411 days after initially testing positive, a man in England who had an early form of COVID-19 infection was finally declared free, according to specialists in the United Kingdom.
According to a news release from King’s College London, the individual received treatment using a combination of neutralising monoclonal antibodies.
The 59-year-old male had a positive test in December 2020 and a negative test in January 2022. Due to a prior kidney transplant, he already had a compromised immune system. His symptoms subsided after three injections of the vaccination, but he continued to test positive for COVID.
Doctors performed a genetic examination of the virus to determine whether the individual had a chronic infection or had been exposed to it more than once.
The early COVID variant, a mutation of the original Wuhan variety that predominated in the U.K. in the latter months of 2020, was the source of the patient’s prolonged infection, according to this research. The patient’s virus has undergone several alterations, according to analysis, King’s College reported.
Because it is ineffective against more recent COVID mutations, the doctors decided to treat him with a Regeneron medication that is no longer frequently used.
All of the antibody therapies that are now available in the UK and Europe are ineffective against some emerging viral strains. Some persons with compromised immune systems nevertheless run the danger of contracting serious illnesses and staying infectious for a long time. According to Luke Snell, MD, of the King’s College School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences, “We are still researching the best ways to safeguard and care for them.”
One of the longest documented COVID infection instances is this one. The longest known COVID infection, according to King’s College, was that of another guy in England who had the disease for 505 days until his death.
