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A 90-year-old woman who died after being infected with the coronavirus was found to be simultaneously infected with both the alpha and beta variants of the virus. “This is one of the first documented cases of co-infection with two worrying variants of SARS-CoV-2,” explains molecular biologist Anne Vankeerberghen of the OLV Hospital in Aalst and author of the study.
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Source: BELGIAN
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The unvaccinated woman who lived alone and received home care was admitted to OLV Hospital in March after a series of falls and tested positive for Covid-19 the same day. Although her oxygen levels were initially good, her condition deteriorated rapidly and she died five days later.
When testing for the presence of variants of concern, medical personnel found that the woman was infected with two strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19. It involved both the alpha strain, which originated in Great Britain, and the beta variant, which was first discovered in South Africa.
“Both variants were circulating in Belgium at the time, so it is likely that the lady was co-infected with different viruses from two different people,” said Vankeerberghen. “Unfortunately, we don’t know how she got infected.”
No other cases
According to Vankeerberghen, it is difficult to say whether the co-infection played a role in the rapid decline of the patient. The research, which has not yet been submitted for publication to a medical journal, will be presented at the European Congress on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID).
Vankeerberghen reports in a press release that there are “no other published cases” of similar co-infections, but added that the “phenomenon is probably underestimated”, partly due to limited testing for variants of concern. She therefore advocates making greater use of rapid PCR tests to detect known virus mutations.
In January, scientists in Brazil also reported that two people were simultaneously infected with two different strains of the coronavirus, but that study has yet to be published in a scientific journal.
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