HIV patient had COVID for over 7 months, infection mutated over 30 times
Of the mutations found in the patient, both the UK and South African variants were noted to be present at one point or another throughout the length of the woman's infection.
By ZACHARY KEYSERA man walks past a poster covering the side of a building ahead of a 21 day lockdown aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cape Town, South Africa, March 26, 2020.(photo credit: MIKE HUTCHINGS / REUTERS)
An HIV-positive woman with a persistent coronavirus infection that lasted 216 days straight had the virus mutate within her over 30 times, according to new research.The study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, detailed the HIV-positive patient's more than seven month infection as part of a cohort study of 300 other people with HIV - exploring the effect of a SARS-CoV-2 infection when introduced to an immune system with a present HIV infection.Of the mutations found in the patient, both the UK and South African variants were noted to be present at one point or another throughout the length of the woman's infection.Throughout the course of the study, the woman, identified as being a 36-year-old living in South Africa, flip-flopped between stages of being asymptomatic and symptomatic, and through the symptomatic stages she reportedly shared some of the normal symptoms associated with a typical coronavirus infection - such as sore throat, cough, difficulty breathing, chest tightness, etc.The woman was initially treated in the hospital following the onset of her symptoms, and following her stay she displayed milder symptoms of the virus while still testing positive for the novel disease. The woman became infected with coronavirus in September, with a strain of the virus that was typical during the first wave of infections in the country.During that time, the coronavirus dawdling throughout her system underwent 13 genetic changes related to the coronavirus' spike protein. Some 19 other shifts in the coronavirus' genetic makeup were noted to change the behavior of the virus. Some strengthened the virus, others proved to have the potential to resist vaccine compounds and others blocked drugs that have the ability to treat COVID-19.Despite the subject's short stints of clinical illness, with moderate severity, the study notes that there is an association with COVID-19 patients who are immunosuppressed and an increased risk of more severe disease and death from a coronavirus infection.It is noted that patients who have HIV are not more susceptible to contracting a coronavirus infection than those without, nor does it worsen the medical implications of the infection.Additionally, the fact that the disease stays present within the body of immunosuppressed patients for longer periods of time compared to healthier individuals could mean that HIV patients could be an incessant source of transmission and mutations of the coronavirus - almost like a factory of variants.The researchers have noted similar occurrences in at least four other HIV patients, where the virus was present in their systems for over a month, according to the LA Times. Insider noted that there have been cases within kidney transplant recipients where they carried the virus for over a year.According to the research, this could muddle up efforts to rid the world of the novel disease that has claimed the lives of millions and could shift importance to diagnosing or treating people with HIV in order to stymie further mutations of the coronavirus.These efforts “would reduce mortality from HIV, reduce transmission of HIV, and also reduce the chance of generating new COVID variants that could cause other waves of infections,” said Tulio de Oliveira, one of the study leaders, according to the LA Times.The report added that while it is unsure if the woman passed on the infection to other individuals, the researchers purport that it's no "coincidence" that new variants of concern have emerged from populations like South Africa KwaZulu Natal province, where a bit over one in four adults have HIV - with South Africa as a whole hosting around 2.2 million untreated HIV-positive individuals, and less than 200,000 people vaccinated.
