Two mutations can attack at once. BBC: first documented case of COVID-19 double infection

Two SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus mutations can attack simultaneously. The first such case has been documented in Belgium, reports the BBC. Two variants of coronavirus – Alpha and Beta – were infected by a 90-year-old woman who was not vaccinated against COVID-19. She did not survive.

1. A 90-year-old woman contracted the Alpha and Beta mutations, i.e. the British and South African variant. The patient died in March 2021.
2. She was not vaccinated against COVID-19. Her doctors suspect that she may have contracted the coronavirus from two different people
3. Research is ongoing to find out whether two variants occurring at the same time pose a risk to vaccinated people
4. Some experts say Europe is already in the fourth wave of the pandemic
5. More important information can be found on the Onet homepage.

The woman was hospitalized in Belgium when her condition began to deteriorate, soon after her respiratory symptoms worsened. The patient died in March 2021. Laboratory tests on samples taken at admission showed her COVID-19 caused by two mutated versions of the pandemic virus – Alpha and Beta.

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— Both of these variants were circulating in Belgium at the time, so it is likely that the woman was infected with different viruses from two different people Dr Anne Vankeerberghen from OLV Hospital in Aalst, Belgium, told the BBC. – Unfortunately, we do not know how the infection came about – he emphasizes. The deceased senior woman lived alone, but many people who came to look after her helped. Probably that’s how she got infected.

‘It is difficult to say whether the co-infection with the two variants played a role in the rapid deterioration of the patient’s condition,’ notes the researcher from a Belgian hospital.

Other cases of COVID-19 double infection

According to the BBC, the patient’s doctors believe that this is the first documented case of its kind, although there have been occasional double infections. In January 2021, scientists from Brazil reported that two people were simultaneously infected with two types of coronavirus, one of which was the Gamma variant.

In Portugal, doctors recently treated a 17-year-old who, recovering from a previous infection, contracted another mutation of the coronavirus.

Vaccines protect against the double attack of the coronavirus?

Do available COVID-19 vaccines protect against infection with two variants of the coronavirus at the same time? Prof. Lawrence Young, an expert in virology at the University of Warwick, stressed on the BBC that more research was needed to determine whether such infections in any way compromise the effectiveness of vaccines or make COVID-19 worse.

The scientist also noted: – The detection of two dominant variants of the pathogen in one person is not surprising – they may have been passed on by a single infected person or through contact with multiple infected people.

Experts are sounding the alarm that the fourth wave of the pandemic will come faster than we expected. This is to blame, among others. the fact that there is less and less interest in vaccinations, carelessness resulting from the summer and holiday season, as well as the mutations of the coronavirus, which is becoming more and more contagious.

Some experts say Europe is already in the fourth wave of the pandemic. Currently, the most aggressive type of coronavirus is the Delta variant. Scientists estimate that with this mutation, one person infects five to eight people.

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The herd immunity threshold against COVID-19

In the case of the original “version” of the coronavirus, the herd immunity threshold was estimated at 60-70%. population. There are voices that for the Delta variant it may be up to 90 percent. As PAP notes, no Western country has even come close to this proportion. Israel is the closest with 61 percent. the population vaccinated with two doses.

Poland is so far more or less in the middle of the desired vaccination threshold – at least one dose of the vaccine has been taken by almost 46%. of us (data from ourworldindata.org as of July 9), but interest in vaccinations is declining sharply.

You may be interested in:

1. Dr. Grzesiowski: Delta hits the unvaccinated the hardest
2. WHO: Delta present in over 100 countries. How do I stop him? There is one way
3. COVID-19. The best and the least vaccinated communes in Poland. One thing stands out

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