A British CoV patient experienced the longest known coronavirus infection, with 505 days until his death. This is what researchers from King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust said. So far, the longest known infection has lasted 335 days.
The person in question suffered from an immune deficiency and participated in a study that was intended to provide information on how the virus changes in long-term patients. Scientists have found indications that new variants of the virus can develop in immunocompromised patients, as the statement shows. The results will be presented at an international congress in Lisbon this weekend.
Normal duration of one to two weeks
In people with a functioning immune system, a coronavirus infection usually lasts one to two weeks, according to the researchers. Even though the virus can still be detected by a PCR test for up to 90 days, it will no longer be able to replicate. This is different for people with a severely weakened immune system, where active infections can last a long time.
As part of the study, nine patients with Covid-19 who had a weakened immune system due to other diseases or therapies were observed. On average, they were infected for 73 days. In two patients, the infection lasted more than a year.