UK patient had COVID infection for 505 days
LONDON, April 25, (AP): A UK patient with a severely weakened immune system had COVID-19 for almost a year and a half, scientists reported, underscoring the importance of protecting vulnerable people from the coronavirus.
There’s no way to know for sure whether it was the longest-lasting COVID-19 infection because not everyone gets tested, especially on a regular basis like this case.
But at 505 days, “it certainly seems to be the longest reported infection,” said Dr. Luke Blagdon Snell, an infectious disease expert at the Guy’s & St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
Snell’s team plans to present several “persistent” COVID-19 cases at an infectious diseases meeting in Portugal this weekend.
Their study investigated which mutations arise — and whether variants evolve — in people with super long infections. It involved nine patients who tested positive for the virus for at least eight weeks. All had weakened immune systems from organ transplants, HIV, cancer or treatment for other illnesses. None were identified for privacy reasons.
Repeated tests showed their infections lingered for an average of 73 days. Two had the virus for more than a year. Previously, researchers said, the longestknown case that was confirmed with a PCR test lasted 335 days.
Persistent COVID-19 is rare and different from long COVID.
“In long COVID, it’s generally assumed the virus has been cleared from your body but the symptoms persist,” Snell said. “With persistent infection, it represents ongoing, active replication of the virus.”
Each time researchers tested patients, they analyzed the genetic code of the virus to make sure it was the same strain and that people didn’t get COVID-19 more than once. Still, genetic sequencing showed that the virus changed over time, mutating as it adapted.
The mutations were similar to the ones that later showed up in widespread variants, Snell said, although none of the patients spawned new mutants that became variants of concern. There’s also no evidence they spread the virus to others.
The person with the longest known infection tested positive in early 2020, was treated with the antiviral drug remdesiver and died sometime in 2021. Researchers declined to name the cause of death and said the person had several other illnesses.
Five patients survived. Two cleared the infection without treatment, two cleared it after treatment and one still has COVID-19. At the last follow-up earlier this year, that patient’s infection had lasted 412 days.
Researchers hope more treatments will be developed to help people with persistent infections beat the virus.
“We do need to be mindful that there are some people who are more susceptible to these problems like persistent infection and severe disease,” Snell said.
Although persistent infections are rare, experts said there are many people with compromised immune systems who remain at risk of severe COVID-19 and who are trying to stay safe after governments lifted restrictions and masks started coming off. And it’s not always easy to know who they are, said Dr. Wesley Long, a pathologist at Houston Methodist in Texas, who was not part of the research.
“Masking in crowds is a considerate thing to do and a way we can protect others,” he said.
Liver disease: The World Health Organization says at least one death has been reported in connection with a mysterious liver disease outbreak affecting children in Europe and the United States.
The UN health agency said late Saturday that it has so far received reports of at least 169 cases of “acute hepatitis of unknown origin” from a dozen countries.
The cases were reported in children aged one month to 16 years old, and 17 of those who fell ill required liver transplants. WHO didn’t say in which country the death occurred.
The first cases were recorded in Britain, where 114 children have been sickened.
“It is not yet clear if there has been an increase in hepatitis cases, or an increase in awareness of hepatitis cases that occur at the expected rate but go undetected,” WHO said in a statement.
Experts say the cases may be linked to a virus commonly associated with colds, but further research is ongoing.
“While adenovirus is a possible hypothesis, investigations are ongoing for the causative agent,” WHO said, noting that the virus has been detected in at least 74 of the cases. At least 20 of the children tested positive for the coronavirus.
WHO said affected countries are stepping up their surveillance of hepatitis cases in children.
Ebola: A new Ebola case has been confirmed in Congo’s northwest Equateur Province in the city of Mbandaka, Congo health authorities said Saturday, declaring an outbreak nearly four months after the last one ended in the central African nation.
The one case was confirmed in a 31-year-old man who began experiencing symptoms on April 5 and sought treatment at a health facility after more than a week of being taken care of at home, the World Health Organization said. He was admitted to an Ebola treatment center Thursday for intensive care but died the same day.
“Time is not on our side,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “The disease has had a two-week head start and we are now playing catch-up. The positive news is that health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have more experience than anyone else in the world at controlling Ebola outbreaks quickly.”
Congo has experienced 13 recorded Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first discovered in the conflict-ridden country in 1976. This is the third in the Equateur Province since 2018.
WHO says the patient received a safe and dignified burial and that efforts to stem the outbreak are underway. Authorities have begun testing and contact tracing. Vaccinations will begin in the coming days, WHO said.
“Many people in Mbandaka are already vaccinated against Ebola, which should help reduce the impact of the disease,” said Moeti. “All those who were vaccinated during the 2020 outbreak will be revaccinated.”
Ebola is transmitted by coming into contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials. However, the early symptoms of fever and muscle aches resembles other common diseases like malaria. In addition to vaccinations, there is now effective treatment available that, if received early, can improve chances of survival significantly.
NEW YORK: On an unusually crowded weekend at movie theaters that featured a pricey Viking epic and Nicolas Cage playing himself, DreamWorks Animation’s “The Bad Guys” bested the field, signaling a continued resurgence for family moviegoing after a downturn during the pandemic.
“The Bad Guys,” released by Universal Pictures, debuted with $24 million in US and Canada ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That came despite steep competition for families from Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic The Hedgehog 2,” which stayed in second place with $15.2 million its third week of release. It’s grossed $145.8 million domestically thus far.
The apparent health of family moviegoing is especially good news for Hollywood as it heads into its lucrative summer season when films like Universal’s own “Minions: Rise of Gru” and Walt Disney Co’s “Lightyear” — the first Pixar film opening in theaters in two years — hope to approach pre-pandemic levels.
“There’s reason for being more than cautiously optimistic,” said Jim Orr, head of distribution for Universal. “I think audiences this summer are going to be flooding into theaters.”
While studios have been hesitant to program many films against each other during the pandemic, the weekend saw a rarity: three new wide releases, all of them well-received, none of them sequels or remakes.
“The Bad Guys,” based on Aaron Blabey’s children’s graphic novel series about a gang of crooked animals with a Quentin Tarantino-for-kids tone, fared well with critics (85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (an “A” CinemaScore). With little family competition until the release of “Lightyear” in mid-June, “The Bad Guys” should play well for weeks. Having first debuted overseas, the animated film has already grossed $63.1 million internationally.
The weekend’s other new releases — Robert Eggers’ “The Northman” and the Cage-starring “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” — didn’t do as well but still fared reasonably solidly in their first weekend.
“Every weekend is a building block in the recovery, but I don’t even want to call it a recovery. I think movie theaters are recovered. We’re pretty much there,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for ComScore. “Three newcomers were all wellreceived, and all of them found an audience.”
The risks were greatest for
Focus Features’ “The Northman,” which saw its budget balloon beyond $70 million, a major increase in scale for Eggers, the director of previous indie historical horrors “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse.” The film’s path to profitability was unlikely even before launching in theaters, but it opened on the higher side of expectations with $12 million in ticket sales. It added $6.3 million internationally in 26 territories.
“The Northman” stars Alexander Skarsgard, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicole Kidman star in a brutal and bloody revenge saga.
“First and foremost, we wanted to work with Robert Eggers,” said Lisa Bunnell, head of distribution for Focus, which had handled international distribution for Eggers’ first two films. “The key here is that we got to make a film that we wanted to make with a filmmaker we feel is part of the future of American cinema. He’s got a very distinctive voice. He’s making film with original IP, not just going in: ‘Let’s make a sequel!’” (AP)