An older man with weakened immunity was infected with a COVID-19 virus that persisted in his body for 613 days—the longest case of COVID-19 on record—leading to the development of a highly mutated new strain. Recent studies have found that chronic COVID-19 infections are not uncommon, and in some cases, these individuals can produce a large number of variant viruses.
According to a news release from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), this 72-year-old patient had a history of blood cancer, and the treatment for it resulted in the absence of B-cells that produce antibodies. Despite receiving multiple doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, he could not mount an immune response.
