HIV positive woman develops 32 COVID-19 mutations inside her body in 216 days

Potentially dangerous coronavirus mutations have been found in a 36-year-old woman with advanced HIV. The woman carried the COVID-19 virus for 216 days and during this period, the virus gathered more than 30 mutations. Researchers in South Africa have reported this case and it was published as a preprint in the medical journal medRxiv.

The reports mention that the woman was diagnosed with HIV back in 2006 and her immune system has weakened consistently over time. After she contracted  COVID-19 in September 2020, the virus accumulated 13 mutations to the spike protein and 19 other genetic shifts that could change the behaviour of the virus. However, it is not yet clear if the woman passed on these mutations to others.

Some of these mutations such as E484K mutation, which is part of the Alpha variant B.1.1.7 (first seen in the UK), and N510Y mutation, which is part of the Beta variant B.1.351, (first seen in South Africa) - are cause for concern. 

Researchers feel it’s probably not a coincidence that most of the new variants have emerged from areas like KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, where more than 1 in 4 adults is HIV positive.

Tulio de Oliveira, a geneticist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban and the study's author, told the LA Times that immunosuppressed patients could carry the COVID-19 virus longer than others. In the case of the woman, de Oliveira said she displayed only mild symptoms of Covid-19 during her initial symptoms, even though she was still carrying the coronavirus.