An elderly UK resident had a persistent COVID infection lasting for more than 290 days, or almost ten months, recorded 42 positive PCR tests, and was admitted to hospital seven times, Report informs referring to The Guardian.
This has been the longest recorded active Covid-19 infection to date.
Dave Smith became infected with coronavirus at the start of the first wave in the UK in 2020. But while most people, including those who suffer “long COVID,” eliminate the live virus from their bodies within a couple of weeks, Smith experienced a very different sort of long-term problem.
“Whenever I went bad, I went really bad – down to death’s door. My wife started to arrange a funeral five times,” he said.
Smith, a retired driving instructor, was eventually cured with the same antibody cocktail developed by Regeneron that was used to treat Donald Trump. It contains two antibodies, casirivimab, and imdevimab, which bind to different sites on the coronavirus spike protein, blocking it from infecting new cells.
Smith was granted access to the drug through a “compassionate use” program, whereby an unauthorized therapy can be given if no other satisfactory approved treatment exists. However, the drug is no longer available on this basis and is not yet clinically approved for use in the UK.
Forty-five days after receiving the drug, Smith received a negative PCR test.
“I’ll never be 100% because the COVID has destroyed my lungs, so I run out of breath quite quickly,” he said. “But every day I live now is a bonus. I always say, when you’re lying down in the gutter, all you can see is the stars. I’ve been down to the bottom, and everything’s brilliant now.”