Dutchman had coronavirus for 613 days; Virus mutated over 50 times in his body

A Dutch man was infected with the coronavirus for 613 days, researchers from the Amsterdam UMC report. ​​”To the authors' knowledge, it is the longest SARS-CoV-2 infection duration to date.” The virus muted over 50 times in his body.

The 72-year-old immunocompromised man continuously tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 from his admission to an Amsterdam clinic in February 2022 until he died of an underlying condition in October 2023. He initially became infected with the Omnicron variant of the coronavirus, but the virus mutated over 50 times in his body. As far as the researchers know, he did not infect anyone else with his mutated form of the virus.

Such persistent coronavirus infections are rare, but several cases of infections lasting hundreds of days in immunocompromised patients have been reported. Researchers worry that these persistent infections could lead to more mutations in the coronavirus. “For instance, it is thought that the initial emergence of the Omicron variant originated in an immunocompromised individual, highlighting the importance of close genomic surveillance in this patient population.” Not all mutations may be as manageable as the Omicron variant.

“We emphasize the importance of continuing genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 evolution in immunocompromised individuals with persistent infections given the potential public health threat of possibly introducing viral escape variants into the community,” the researchers said. They stressed that there must be a balance between this surveillance and “human supportive care” for the patients involved.

The researchers also stressed that “from the viewpoint of the general public, prolonged infections remain rare as the immunocompromised population is only a very small percentage of the total population.”

The Amsterdam researchers will present their findings at the ESCMID medical congress in Barcelona between April 27 and 31.