A 71-year-old woman infected with the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) shed infectious virus particles for at least 70 days without showing symptoms of the disease, according to a new study.?
The Washington resident had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a type of cancer that infects white blood cells, which has weakened her immune system and made her less able to clear her body of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Also read:?China Reports Sudden Rise In Asymptomatic Coronavirus Cases In Xinjiang
It has been shown that COVID-19 is often more severe in older adults or those with existing health conditions that affect their immune system. Researchers have thought that individuals with a weakened immune system?may shed the virus for longer than those with healthy immune systems.?
The case study contradicted the CDC guidelines stating that immunocompromised people with COVID-19 are likely not infectious after 20 days.
The current findings suggested that immunosuppressed people who get COVID-19 could remain contagious for longer than previously thought.
Also read:?People With Mild COVID-19 Can Suffer From Symptoms For Months, Says Study
¡°The new findings suggest ¡®long-term shedding of infectious virus may be a concern in certain immunocompromised patients,¡± the authors wrote in their paper, published on November 4, in the journal?Cell.
¡°As this virus continues to spread, more people with a range of immunosuppressing disorders will become infected, and it¡¯s important to understand how SARS-CoV-2 behaves in these populations,¡± study senior author Vincent Munster, a virologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was quoted as saying in a statement.
The woman, who had been hospitalised with anaemia related to her cancer, tested positive for coronavirus in March. She was still shedding infectious particles 70 days after her diagnosis. By mid-June, more than 100 days later, the patient was still testing positive for COVID-19.
Also read:?Bengaluru Doctors Baffled After Finding Post-COVID Symptoms In Children
"Shedding of infectious SARS-CoV-2 was observed up to 70 days, and genomic and subgenomic RNA up to 105 days past initial diagnosis," the study said.
According to the study, people with COVID-19 are generally contagious for about eight days after infection. The longest duration of infectious virus shedding in a person with COVID-19 was reported to be 20 days. The woman¡¯s 70-day period of infectiousness is believed to be the longest such span even observed in an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient.
The woman was administered two rounds of convalescent plasma, a therapy that used blood from recovered COVID-19 patients. On August 23, 2020, the US FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for COVID-19 convalescent plasma for the treatment of hospitalised patients with coronavirus infection.
The researchers said the infection was not cleared after the first treatment with convalescent plasma, suggesting a limited impact on SARS-CoV-2 in the upper respiratory tract within this patient; she had low concentrations of antibodies after the transfusion. She cleared the infection after her second treatment with the therapy.?
¡°Several weeks after a second convalescent plasma transfusion, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was no longer detected. We observed marked within-host genomic evolution of SARS-CoV-2, with a continuous turnover of dominant viral variants,¡± the authors wrote.
Interestingly, she did not show any symptoms of COVID-19, despite being immunocompromised. The patient, who also had acquired hypogammaglobulinemia - a condition in which the immune system can¡¯t make enough antibodies - didn¡¯t spread the virus to others since she was quickly isolated in a room.