Those who have suffered from an isolation of about twenty days will have the opportunity to change their minds. Because a 38-year-old man – whose case was documented by researchers from the Pasteur Institute (France), the University of São Paulo and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Brazil) – it turned out positive to the Covid for 232 days. “Of the 38 cases we monitored, two men and one woman were atypical in the sense that the virus was continuously detected in their body for more than 70 days,” explains Marielton dos Passos Cunha, first author of the article that was published. in the scientific journal “Frontiers of Medicine”. Specifically, the man had Covid for 232 days, from April to November 2020, after which he tested negative three times. He is a patient with HIV since 2018.
“Being HIV positive does not affect the duration of the infection”
“The fact that he is HIV positive does not mean that he is more susceptible to other infections, since he has been in therapy since he was diagnosed. His ability to respond to infection from another agent is comparable to that of any other individual, and in fact he responded to the coronavirus when he was infected. He is not immunosuppressed, like cancer patients, people with autoimmune diseases or transplant recipients, for example », explains Paola Minoprio, one of the managers of the work. According to the researchers, therefore, the duration of his infection does not depend on his HIV-positive status. Many patients were simultaneously infected with HIV and SARS-CoV-2 and should be compared with a suitable control group to see if any genetic or immune traits could be associated with prolonged contagion.
The tests and the Gamma variant
The patient underwent weekly tests which revealed persistence of the infection. The patient was infected with the B.1.1.28 strain, also called P1 (or Gamma variant) that entered Brazil in early 2020.