A 90-year-old woman died after being infected with two different strains of Covid-19, revealing another risk in the fight against disease, Belgian researchers found.
In the first peer analysis of infections with several strains, scientists found the woman had contracted the two Alfa variants, the first appeared in U.K., and beta tensions, were first discovered in South Africa. Infections may come from separate people, according to a report published Saturday and served at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases.
The woman was treated at the Belgian hospital in March after a number of fell, and was tested positive for Covid-19 on the same day. He lives alone, receives nursing care at home, and is not vaccinated. His respiratory symptoms quickly worsened and he died five days later. When respiratory samples are tested for variants of concerns, both strains are found in two tests. Researchers cannot say whether the co-infection plays a role in its rapid setback.
The idea of some infections is not entirely new. In January, Brazilian scientists reported two cases of Covid-19 co-infection, but studies have not been released in scientific journals. Researchers had previously found evidence of people infected with many influenza strains. Cases show co-infections may be more common than known at this time.
“The global occurrence of this phenomenon may be underestimated because testing is limited to the variant that is a concern and lack of simple ways to identify co-infections with the sequencing of the intact genome,” said Anne Vankeerberghen, the main author of research and molecular biologists. From OLV Hospital in Aalst, Belgium. “Alert to co-infections is still important.”
Such examples also raise questions about how many protection vaccines can be provided. With Delta variants that spread rapidly now the dominant strains in many places, including UK., drug makers flow to test their shots on the variant and create a new version that can provide a better defense. Countries also reflect on whether it will offer this winter booster shot to keep it from reduced by vaccines.
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