A man in Britain has tested positive for corona for more than 500 days

What is the explanation for the fact that the results of the Corona test for a British man remained positive for more than 500 days? What is the relationship of weak immunity to corona mutations? And where did the efforts to vaccinate the entire population of the world against Corona reach?

What is the explanation for the fact that the results of the Corona test for a British man remained positive for more than 500 days?

A record number of people infected with Covid-19 virus in the United Kingdom, where since he was first confirmed to be infected in the middle of 2020, the British patient remained in this condition for 16 months until his death.

There are still many uncertain answers about loss of sense of smell and taste due to infection with the Corona virus, so what do studies say so far about loss of sense of smell?  And when will people infected with the virus regain their ability to distinguish smells, as they were before infection with the virus?  Source: Al Jazeera this morning Facebook There are still many uncertain answers about loss of sense of smell and taste due to infection with the Corona virus, so what do studies say so far about loss of sense of smell?  And when will people infected with the virus regain their ability to distinguish smells, as they were before infection with the virus?  Source: Al Jazeera this morning Facebook

And the newspaper " Leparisien " published a report on the longest known case of the Covid-19 virus, according to a study on the development of the virus in patients with immunodeficiency, where the patient - whose identity was not revealed - was suffering from respiratory problems, Study co-author Dr Jaya Nyebia said he remained positive on all tests, around 45, until his death 505 days later.

This is the longest known case of COVID-19 infection, the paper explains.

The study was presented at the European Conference on Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, which was held in Lisbon from 23 to 26 April.

9 patients

The study was led by researchers from "King's College London" and Guy's Hospital and St Thomas' in London, and looked between March 2020 and December 2021 in the case of 9 patients with immunodeficiency and chronic infection with the virus.

All tests were positive for at least 8 weeks, two of them were positive for more than a year, and among the nine patients, 4 died and 4 eventually recovered, and the last patient was still infected at the beginning of 2022, 412 days after he was first tested.

"Immunocompromised patients with chronic infection have little chance of survival, and new treatment strategies are urgently needed to end the infection," said Dr. Gaia Nebea.

For his part, Dr Luke Blagdon-Snell, an infectious disease expert at the British National Health Service (NHS) who participated in the study, said that it "certainly appears to be the longest infection reported," according to a report by "Time ".

There are still many uncertain answers about loss of sense of smell and taste due to infection with the Corona virus, so what do studies say so far about loss of sense of smell?  And when will people infected with the virus regain their ability to distinguish smells, as they were before infection with the virus?  Source: Al Jazeera this morning Facebook There are still many uncertain answers about loss of sense of smell and taste due to infection with the Corona virus, so what do studies say so far about loss of sense of smell?  And when will people infected with the virus regain their ability to distinguish smells, as they were before infection with the virus?  Source: Al Jazeera this morning Facebook

Corona mutations

The study investigated the mutations that develop in people with very long infections, and whether variants evolve.

" In long-term Covid , it is generally assumed that the virus has been removed from your body but the symptoms persist," Snell said. "But with persistent infection, this represents an active and continuing replication of the virus."

Each time the researchers tested patients, they analyzed the virus' genetic code to ensure it was the same strain and that they had not contracted COVID-19 more than once. However, genetic sequencing showed that the virus changed over time, mutating as it adapted.

Snell said the mutations were similar to those later seen in widespread variants, although none of the patients generated new mutations that became worrisome variants. There is also no evidence that they spread the virus to others.

Japan's Shinoji Trial Anti-Corona Tablets Quickly Kill the Virus

Japan's Shionogi Pharmaceutical Company said on Sunday that new data showed that an experimental treatment for Covid-19 of its production quickly eliminated the virus that causes the disease in an advanced stage of clinical trials.

The company hopes that the experimental treatment - which is tablets - will achieve global spread after obtaining the approval of the regulatory authorities in Japan, which are currently examining it.

The company added that the results, issued the day before yesterday, Sunday, showed that the drug improved respiratory symptoms and fever caused by the disease.

The company indicated last March that it would launch the third phase of clinical trials for the treatment globally, with the support of the US government.

There are still many uncertain answers about loss of sense of smell and taste due to infection with the Corona virus, so what do studies say so far about loss of sense of smell?  And when will people infected with the virus regain their ability to distinguish smells, as they were before infection with the virus?  Source: Al Jazeera this morning Facebook

The campaign to vaccinate the entire world's population against COVID-19 is losing steam

Vaccination rates in most low-income countries are slowing to fall behind the World Health Organization's goal of fully immunizing 70% of the population in every country by June 2022.

In a report published by the American newspaper " The New York Times", writers Rebecca Robbins and Stephanie Nolin said that there is a growing feeling among public health experts that high vaccination coverage against the Covid-19 virus may never be achieved in most low-income countries. With critical US funding drying up, other governments and donors are turning to other priorities.

Only a few of the world's 82 poorest countries - including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal - were able to get the chance to vaccinate 70 percent of the population, but many did not exceed 20 percent, according to data collected from government sources by the project. Our World in Data" at the University of Oxford. In contrast, about two-thirds of the world's richest countries have achieved a vaccination rate of 70%, including the United States (66%).

Consequences of not achieving high vaccination coverage

The authors point out that the consequences of abandoning high vaccination coverage worldwide could be dire. Public health experts say that abandoning global efforts to immunize may lead to the emergence of new and dangerous mutations that would threaten the world's efforts to coexist with the virus.

Countries in different parts of the world, including some Eastern Europe and the Middle East, have seen stagnant vaccination rates in recent months, but Africa's vaccination rate remains the worst. Less than 17% of Africans have received a primary vaccination against the Covid-19 virus, while half of the vaccine doses delivered to the continent have not yet been used. Last March, the number of doses given on the continent decreased by 35% compared to last February, and WHO officials attributed this decrease to the dispensation of mass vaccination campaigns with smaller campaigns in many countries.

Some global health experts say the world missed a good opportunity last year to deliver vaccines to low-income countries when the population was most afraid of Covid-19 and ready to get vaccinated. What remained of the momentum in the global vaccination campaign has now been hampered by a lack of funding for equipment, transportation and medical staff.

Reasons for optimism

On the other hand, some public health experts point out that there are reasons for optimism that the global vaccination campaign is still in place. Earlier this April, the Gavi Vaccine Alliance attracted an important new batch of funding pledges, securing $4.8 billion in commitments, but it fell short of its $5.2 billion goal. There is also hope that the global COVID-19 summit that the White House plans to co-host next month will be an opportunity to generate momentum and funding.

The two writers mentioned that the decline in public demand has led some health officials and experts to question whether the 70% vaccination goal is feasible or even reasonable.

The number of reported deaths from COVID-19 remains relatively low in sub-Saharan Africa, although there is controversy over poor tracking of the data. However, the perception in many countries of the region is that the disease does not pose a serious threat, certainly not as much as other prevalent health problems that require more focus on scarce healthcare resources.

Viva Rahman - civil society representative in a group launched by the World Health Organization to coordinate the global response to the Covid-19 virus - said that many low-income governments are shifting their focus to their economies and other health issues, noting that "there is a sense that there are many competing priorities now, but This is a symptom of fading momentum, because when the momentum was there, everyone was looking for vaccines."

Measles

For example, rural areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the reported COVID-19 death rate is very low, are seeing an increase in measles cases, threatening 20 million children.

According to Christopher Mambula, MSF's medical director for East Africa, the government says it does not have enough resources to provide complementary measles vaccinations this year. In this context, it makes no sense to continue diverting resources to mass vaccination against COVID-19. As African governments receive more vaccines from rich countries and face difficulties in distributing them, their interest in ordering more doses has declined.

While it appears that the 70% vaccination threshold cannot be achieved by the deadline, some public health experts argue that it would be unwise and unethical to abandon this target over a longer period of time.

They have expressed frustration at the growing chasm between wealthy nations that vaccinate young children and deliver the fourth dose to healthy adults, while the majority of the population in some areas has yet to receive a single dose.

Source : Al Jazeera + Agencies + Time + Le Parisien