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After 411 days with consistently positive tests, a sick person was finally cured of his corona infection, according to British researchers.
In the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, a team of scientists describes how they were able to cure the 59-year-old's infection after 13 months by analyzing the genetic code of his virus and thus finding the right antidote.
Patient had compromised immune system due to kidney transplant
Persistent corona infections are different from long covid and recurring infections.
They occur in a small number of patients with a weakened immune system.
These people could be corona-positive for months or even years, while the infection "smolders all the time," said doctor Luke Snell of the "Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust" on Friday of the AFP news agency.
The patient in the study had a compromised immune system due to a kidney transplant.
He contracted the coronavirus in December 2020 and remained positive until January this year.
An investigation showed that the 59-year-old was infected with the B.1 variant that was prevalent at the end of 2020, and the scientists were able to adjust the antibody treatment accordingly.
At a specialist conference in April, the research team presented the longest known persistent infection to date: A man had tested positive for the corona virus for 505 days before he died.
swe/afp
