Possibility of dual infection: Researchers report dangerous co-infection

Sunday 11 July 2021

Possibility of double infection
Researchers report dangerous co-infection

Belgian scientists are exploring a disturbing finding: there are covit patients who are simultaneously infected with different strains of the virus. There are still isolated cases due to lack of studies. But experts believe co-infections are a lesser estimated occurrence.

A 90-year-old woman in Belgium has died after being infected with two different strains of the corona virus at the same time. According to scientists, the unidentified woman was living alone at home, where she was observed by a nursing service. After several falls, he was admitted to a hospital in Alston in early March, the same day he tested positive for the corona virus.

At first, the oxygen concentration in his blood was still good, but then the patient’s condition deteriorated rapidly and he died within five days, according to a report by the European Congress on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Tests for corona virus strains have shown that the corona virus is infected with alpha and beta strains. “Both types were in circulation in Belgium at the time, so the woman may have been infected with different viruses from two different people,” said Anne Vankirbergan, a molecular biologist at OLV Hospital in Allst, which led the study.

It is difficult to say whether this co-infection was responsible for the rapid deterioration of the old woman’s health. Although there have been no such co-infections published in specialized journals, he considers it to be “probably an underestimated phenomenon” because it has not been adequately tested for variants.

There are no releases yet

In January, two scientists from Brazil reported being infected with two different strains of the corona virus at the same time, but the study has not yet been published in a scientific journal.

The Belgian study clarifies that “further research is needed to determine whether the clinical course of Govit-19 is affected by infection with many questionable variants and whether it affects the effectiveness of vaccines in any way,” explained Lawrence Young, a university virologist. Warwick.