Chinese researchers said they have detected a new "chronic" mutation of COVID-19 in a patient who was infected for 49 days, the longest duration of the illness to date
According to Chinese military researchers in Wuhan, the patient was a middle-aged man who had less serious symptoms but had a prolonged ability to transfer the novel coronavirus to others.
The middle-aged man was shown to have an intermittent, very low fever with no cough, chills, or difficulty breathing which are regular indicators of the coronavirus.
CAT imaging displayed lesions on his lungs, but they vanished a handful of days before he was admitted to the healthcare facility. The patient's system temperature also returned to typical.
The current global outbreak is caused by the pathogen SARS-CoV-2, a member of the family of coronaviruses that presents a myriad of symptoms. One characteristic of the COVID-19 that has played a major role in its prevalence is that infected patients can remain contagious long before they show symptoms or are asymptotic and for a span of time, they would feel better.
Aside from having mild symptoms, the Chinese man seemingly developed a "dynamic balance" with the disease.
This chronic case has revealed a particular strain of the virus that is just as laborious to treat as the patient had to be injected with the blood of a survivor to recover.
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The team of researchers spearheaded by Dr. Li Tan, of the General Hospital of Central Theater Command of PLA in Wuhan, made their announcement public on medRxiv, a scientific website. This report details of the case of the middle-aged man who contracted the coronavirus for 49 days.
The infection is highly stable, according to researchers who are tracking mutations to surmise the viability of vaccines. The more frequent a virus mutates, the more difficult it is to eradicate.
The Chinese man was diagnosed with the coronavirus on February 8 at a hospital in Wuhan upon having a high temperature for a week, but he did not experience any symptoms. His swab tests were positive on days 17, 22, 26, 30, 34, 39, 43, and 49.
According to the researchers, it is possible that there are more "chronic infected patients" who spread the infection into their surroundings and initialize an outbreak.
The Chinese patient had exhibited a high coronavirus viral load along with his immune cell indicators remaining stable.
The military researchers claimed that he was required to be treated with a plasma transfusion from other coronavirus sufferers who had recovered.
Previous findings showed that patients who conquered the virus typically tested negative after 20 days on average. The longest previous case stood at 37 days.
Signs showed that the patient's body could not eradicate the virus through normal therapy.
Two days following the plasma transfusion, he then tested negative.
His uncommon case was the longest duration of "viral shedding" in a patient.
The paper has not yet been peer-reviewed and should not to be comprehended as a guide for clinical practice.
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