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The 71-year-old with lymphocytic leukemia emitted SARS-CoV-2 infectious particles for 70 days and remained asymptomatic even after a positive 13 test.
The coronavirus, which is no longer so new, still poses a puzzle or two for researchers around the world: while most people infected with SARS-CoV-2 appear to give up the infectious virus within a week, a US case study shows now that there are exceptions here too.
In the journal “Cell”, researchers report a 71-year-old woman with leukemia and low antibody counts who was infected with the coronavirus for at least 105 days and contagious for at least 70 days. However, the Washington state lady did not show a single symptom even after the 13 positive test and then all the time. It is the longest known case of asymptomatic infection.
Infectious people for longer?
Researchers suspect that the patient has been contagious for so long due to her cancer. The weakened immune system would not have been able to react to the virus. Blood tests showed that his body was never able to make antibodies. Even so, he never developed COVID-19.
“Our data suggest that some immunocompromised patients may shed infectious viruses for longer periods of time than previously assumed,” say the study authors. These people could include cancer or transplant patients who are taking immunosuppressive drugs.
However, the research team points out that the patient is an isolated case. Whether and how the findings can be extended to other immunodeficient patients needs to be further investigated. “As the virus continues to spread, more and more people will be infected with immunosuppressive diseases. It is therefore important to understand how SARS-CoV-2 behaves in these population groups,” explains virologist Vincent Munster of the National Institute of Allergy and Allergy. of the United States Infectious Diseases, “a co-author of the study.
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