A recent case study from the Amsterdam University Medical Center describes a disturbing development: a 72-year-old man with a weakened immune system who battled Covid-19 for 613 days.
The man, who ultimately succumbed to complications from lymphoma, reminds us of the dangers that Covid-19 poses to people with weakened immune systems. Despite being vaccinated, his compromised immune system failed to fully combat the virus, allowing it to mutate and potentially evade future treatments in his body.
This case highlights the importance of protecting vulnerable populations, especially those with compromised immunity. They are at significantly higher risk of severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19, even with vaccinations.
The report on this patient was prepared by PhD student Magda Vergouwe, Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine (CEMM), Amsterdam University Medical Center (Amsterdam UMC), University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues.
“This case underlines the risk of persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections in immunocompromised individuals, as unique SARS-CoV-2 viral variants may arise due to extensive evolution within the host. We emphasize the importance of continued genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 evolution in immunocompromised individuals with persistent infections given the potential threat to public health by potentially introducing viral escape variants into the community,” Magda Vergouwe and colleagues said in a statement.
The study highlights how pre-existing diseases and treatments that suppress the immune system can create a breeding ground for long-term infections and possibly new viral variants.
“The duration of SARS-CoV-2 infection in this described case is extreme, but prolonged infections in immunocompromised patients are much more common than in the general community. Further work by our team includes describing a cohort of long-term infections in immunocompromised patients from our hospital, with infection durations ranging from 1 month to 2 years. However, from the perspective of the general public, long-term infections remain rare as the immunocompromised population constitutes only a very small percentage of the total population,” the authors said in a statement.