Woman found infected with two Covid variants at the same time
A 90-year-old woman from Belgium was found to have two variants of Covid-19 in her system simultaneously.
After undergoing laboratory tests, the two variants detected were the Alpha and Beta types, first identified in the UK and South Africa.
Dr. Anne Vankeerberghen, from the OLV hospital in Aalst, Belgium, said: “This is one of the first documented cases of co-infection with two Sar-CoV-2 variants of concern.”
“Both these variants were circulating in Belgium at the time, so it is likely that the lady was co-infected with different viruses from two different people. Unfortunately, we don’t know how she became infected,” she added.
On 3 March,, the elderly woman was admitted to hospital in the Belgium city of Aalst, after falling numerous times and consequently tested positive for the virus. She initially had no respiratory issues however rapidly deteriorated and died five days later.
It is reported that she had not yet received a vaccine to help prevent transmission.
Similar cases
Although this is one of the first documented cases, doctors around the globe are seeing similar cases and warn we need to be aware of it.
In January 2021, scientists in Brazil reported two people who had been simultaneously infected with different variants, one being the gamma variant, another for concern.
Meanwhile in Portugal, a 17-year-old boy contracted another type of the virus while recovering from a different variant.
Prof Lawrence Young, an expert in virology at the University of Warwick, said: “Detecting two dominant variants of concern in a single person is not a surprise – these could have been passed on by a single infected individual, or by contact with multiple infected people.”
Although vaccines provide some protection against the virus, Prof Lawrence Young says more research and case studies are need to determine if such infections compromise the efficacy of vaccinations.
Currently in the UK, Delta variant cases are rising but there are still other variants of concern.