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90-year-old Belgian infected ‘with two virus variants at the same time’

A 90-year-old woman from Belgium who previously died of the coronavirus was simultaneously infected with both the Alpha and the Beta variant, Belgian researchers announced on Sunday. According to them, this rare phenomenon may be underestimated.

The unvaccinated woman, who lived alone and received home nursing, was admitted to hospital in Aalst in March after a number of falls. She 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 medical personnel tested for the presence of variants of concern, they found that the woman was carrying both the Alpha strain, which was originally from Great Britain, and the Beta variant, first discovered in South Africa. “Both variants were circulating in Belgium at the time, so it is likely that she was co-infected with different viruses from two different people,” said molecular biologist Anne Vankeerberghen of the OLV hospital who led the study. “Unfortunately, we don’t know how she got infected.”

Vankeerberghen said 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 a European conference. Vankeerberghen stated in a press release that there were “no other published cases” of similar co-infections and added that the “phenomenon is probably underestimated.” She says this is due to limited testing for worrisome virus variants and calls for more rapid PCR testing to detect known variant mutations.

In January, scientists in Brazil reported that two people were simultaneously infected with two different strains of the coronavirus, but the study has yet to be published in a scientific journal.

Commenting on the research, Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, said it was no surprise to find a person infected with more than one strain. “This study highlights the need for more research to determine whether infection with multiple variants of concern affects the clinical course of Covid-19 and whether this in any way compromises the efficacy of vaccination.”

8.30 – OMT member De Jong: concerns about vulnerable population

Menno de Jong, virologist at Amsterdam UMC and member of the Outbreak Management Team, is concerned about the enormous increase in the number of corona infections. “We have to take into account that the infections still seep through to the vulnerable population,” he says at the Amsterdam channel AT5. Although they have been vaccinated, he believes the vaccines offer less protection against the current delta variant. “Plus, the most vulnerable population has been vaccinated early in the year, which means that protection is already starting to expire.”

De Jong is shocked by the current increase in the number of infections. “I don’t think anyone expected this, such a big increase two weeks after the easing. This is above all expectations in the models as well. That also means that the models no longer provide the compass.”

The virologist fears that the increase may again lead to more hospital admissions and seriously ill patients. “Now that we see these numbers, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Although young people have almost no chance of getting a serious infection, he does point to the risk of long-term Covid. “That is a relevant risk,” says De Jong. “I think a lot of people know someone who has been sitting at home for months, can no longer work, people are too tired. If that becomes a large population among young people who can no longer study or work, that will also have a significant impact.”

The OMT member also advocates that in the future the clubbing public should always be tested in advance, instead of only showing a vaccination or recovery certificate. “That is a lot safer, because we know that a vaccination does not protect 100 percent against an infection of the delta variant.”

According to De Jong, the relaxations that were recently introduced were obvious given the numbers that were there at the time. He called the so-called ‘dancing with Janssen campaign’, in which young people could go out immediately after getting a shot, but “a bit unfortunate.” “The vaccine doesn’t work right away. That has now been reversed, but it will not have helped.”

The virologist is hopeful that the current measures will have an effect and that the exponential growth in the number of corona infections can be stopped quickly. “We are now faced with a race between vaccination and the delta variant. At the moment, the delta variant is clearly winning. But next month more will be vaccinated, more people will receive their second vaccine. On August 13, you are already in a different situation, in which the vaccination party may be winning.”

4.19 – First corona death this year in Australia

Australia reported the first corona death of 2021 on Sunday. With 77 new cases, there was also a record number of infections for this year in the state of New South Wales (NSW) linked to an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta strain.

NSW Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian said numbers in and around the country’s largest city, Sydney, which has been on lockdown for three weeks, are expected to rise further in the coming days. “I expect the number in New South Wales to exceed a hundred tomorrow,” Berejiklian told a televised briefing. “I’ll be shocked if it’s less.”

On Saturday, there were fifty cases, the previous record of 2021. This brings the recent outbreak to 566 infections.

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