Scientists have documented a 72-year-old man with Covid-19 for 613 days, harboring 50 mutations in his body and ultimately succumbing to the virus.

The patient suffered from blood disorders, failing to mount an immune response despite receiving Covid-19 vaccinations. He contracted the Omicron variant in February 2022. Detailed analysis of the specimen revealed that the virus developed resistance to sotrovimab treatment over several weeks. This drug is among those approved for Covid-19 treatment.

Experts found that this individual harbored over 50 virus mutations, many of which had the potential to evade the immune system. Although the virus mutations in the patient’s body did not transmit to others, experts emphasized that prolonged illness could lead to the accumulation of genetic changes in the virus, potentially giving rise to worrisome new variants in the future.

To date, this is the longest-known Covid-19 case in the world. Scientists are expected to report this extraordinary case at a medical conference in Barcelona next week.

“This case underscores the ongoing risk of prolonged Covid-19 infection in immunocompromised individuals,” the research team noted, highlighting “the importance of monitoring viral evolution in these patients.”

Magda Vergouwe, a doctoral researcher from the University of Amsterdam Medical Center, who will present the findings next week, described this case as extreme. Prolonged illness in immunocompromised patients is much more common than in the general population.

Hình ảnh minh họa 3D nCoV dưới kính hiển vi. Ảnh: CDC

Additionally, scientists have synthesized genetic data collected from wastewater samples in communities – where many people have experienced severe Covid cases – over the past 4 years. They found that many individuals may have been infected with nCoV variants without even knowing it. Such prolonged infections have led patients to experience prolonged Covid-19 symptoms.

The research also revealed that 24.4% of adult Americans with positive virus test results experienced prolonged symptoms for three months or longer. Scientists discovered that prolonged and severe Covid-19 is common among those who fell ill before the emergence of the Omicron variant.

The previous record for the longest-known Covid-19 case was held by a man in the UK. This patient was infected with the virus 505 days before passing away.