Study Shows British Patient Had COVID-19 for 505 Days
2022-05-03
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1British researchers say they have documented a case of a patient who had COVID-19 for 505 days.
2Experts say they think the case represents the longest infection of COVID-19 on record.
3The research was part of a study that looked at whether virus mutations can form in people who carry COVID-19 for a very long time.
4The study involved nine patients who tested positive for the virus for at least eight weeks.
5All patients had weakened immune systems linked to organ replacement operations, HIV, cancer or other diseases.
6Repeated tests showed that the patients' infections lasted an average of 73 days.
7Two of them had the virus longer than a year.
8Before the study, the longest-known COVID-19 case was believed to have lasted 335 days.
9Dr. Luke Blagdon Snell helped lead the study.
10He told The Associated Press the researchers considered the cases studied to be "persistent" COVID-19.
11This is different from what has been described as "long COVID-19."
12With long COVID-19, it is believed that the virus has been cleared from the patient's body, but individuals can still experience signs, or symptoms, of disease, Snell said.
13A persistent infection "represents ongoing, active replication of the virus," he added.
14Each time researchers tested patients, they examined the genetic code of the virus to make sure it was the same version, or variant.
15Results from the study showed that the virus could change and mutate over time.
16Snell said the observed mutations were similar to ones that later showed up in widespread variants of COVID-19.
17But the team noted that none of the new mutations in the nine cases became variants of concern.
18There was also no evidence that any of the patients had spread the virus to others.
19Five of the nine patients studied survived.
20Two got rid of the infection without treatment.
21Two cleared the infection after treatment and one still has COVID-19.
22The person with the longest known infection tested positive in early 2020, and was treated with the drug remdesivir and died in 2021.
23The study team refused to name the exact cause of the patient's death.
24The researchers said the patient had other diseases, along with COVID-19.
25Scientists hope to develop treatments to help people recover from persistent COVID-19 infections.
26"We do need to be mindful that there are some people who are more susceptible to these problems like persistent infection and severe disease," Snell said.
27I'm Bryan Lynn.
1British researchers say they have documented a case of a patient who had COVID-19 for 505 days. Experts say they think the case represents the longest infection of COVID-19 on record. 2The research was part of a study that looked at whether virus mutations can form in people who carry COVID-19 for a very long time. 3The study involved nine patients who tested positive for the virus for at least eight weeks. All patients had weakened immune systems linked to organ replacement operations, HIV, cancer or other diseases. 4Repeated tests showed that the patients' infections lasted an average of 73 days. Two of them had the virus longer than a year. Before the study, the longest-known COVID-19 case was believed to have lasted 335 days. 5Dr. Luke Blagdon Snell helped lead the study. He told The Associated Press the researchers considered the cases studied to be "persistent" COVID-19. This is different from what has been described as "long COVID-19." 6With long COVID-19, it is believed that the virus has been cleared from the patient's body, but individuals can still experience signs, or symptoms, of disease, Snell said. A persistent infection "represents ongoing, active replication of the virus," he added. 7Each time researchers tested patients, they examined the genetic code of the virus to make sure it was the same version, or variant. Results from the study showed that the virus could change and mutate over time. 8Snell said the observed mutations were similar to ones that later showed up in widespread variants of COVID-19. But the team noted that none of the new mutations in the nine cases became variants of concern. There was also no evidence that any of the patients had spread the virus to others. 9Five of the nine patients studied survived. Two got rid of the infection without treatment. Two cleared the infection after treatment and one still has COVID-19. 10The person with the longest known infection tested positive in early 2020, and was treated with the drug remdesivir and died in 2021. 11The study team refused to name the exact cause of the patient's death. The researchers said the patient had other diseases, along with COVID-19. 12Scientists hope to develop treatments to help people recover from persistent COVID-19 infections. "We do need to be mindful that there are some people who are more susceptible to these problems like persistent infection and severe disease," Snell said. 13I'm Bryan Lynn. 14The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. 15________________________________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17mutate - n. to cause (a gene) to change and create an unusual characteristic in a plant or animal 18positive - adj. in a medical test, positive means the person being tested has a disease or condition 19persistent - adj. something that continues for a long time or is difficult to get rid of 20replicate - v. to make or do something again in exactly the same way 21code - n. the instructions in a gene that tell the cell how to make a specific protein 22susceptible - adj. easily influenced or harmed by something 23We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.