A group of Brazilian scientists are studying a case of infection with the new coronavirus that lasted at least 218 days – the period during which the virus replicated and even mutated.
According to the São Paulo State Foundation for Research Support (FAPESP), this is a 40-year-old man who, prior to contracting covid-19, underwent aggressive cancer treatment, as a result of which his immune system was severely weakened.
From September 2020 to April this year, the patient tested positive for the disease.
The study, published on the MedRxiv platform and which has not yet been reviewed by other experts, was conducted by scientists from the University of São Paulo (USP), who found that the virus is not only present in the patient’s body, but also replicating. during this period of time.
“Throughout this period, there was a risk of transmitting the infection to others,” explained Maria Mendes-Correa, a professor at the USP School of Medicine and the first author of the study.
The situation was confirmed by in vitro tests on weekly nasopharyngeal and saliva samples, in which an increase in viral load could be checked after a few hours.
“What The ability of the virus to replicate was monitored continuously and continuously. for 196 days in a row “out of 218 days of infection,” said Maria Mendes-Correa.
Blood, urine, and anal samples were also collected between January and April of this year, also indicating that SARS-CoV-2 persisted for most of the study period.
On the other hand, serological tests have shown that the patient has never developed antibodies…
In addition, scientists also detected mutations pathogen throughout the entire infectious process, from genetic sequencing of nasopharyngeal samples collected at 77, 134, 169 and 196 days after the onset of the first symptoms.
Some of these mutations occur in the spike protein, which the virus uses to enter human cells. “The data suggests that this evolutionary process of the virus” took place within the same host, whereas usually “these changes” are observed in the community, “said Maria Mendes-Correa.
“This is an alarming phenomenon as it promotes viral variants more adapted to the human body,” he added.
The patient in question spent most of his time in the hospital, and during the short periods when he stayed at home, he was also isolated.
Brazil is the Latin American country hardest hit by the new coronavirus pandemic, with 507,109 deaths and more than 18.1 million infections, the second most fatal disease in the world and the third most infected after the United States and India.
