Immuno-compromised people can produce new Covid-19 variants where the virus circulates and mutates within their bodies, says professor Tulio de Oliveira, director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP).<\/p>\n
De Oliveira told eNCA of a recent case where a person with uncontrolled HIV had Covid-19 for in excess of eight months, which led to mutations.<\/p>\n
“What had happened is that when that person got infected with Covid-19, it could not be cleared for over 200 days. What we did was ensure this person responded to antiretroviral therapy.<\/p>\n
“But during that time the Covid-19 virus kept evolving and creating mutations seen in the variants – not only the variant seen in South Africa but similar to those seen in UK and Brazil.”<\/p>\n
De Oliveira said the research shows that immuno-compromised people, through other issues such as cancer or HIV, could become an almost ‘factory’ of variants.<\/p>\n
He said that there is a silver lining in that ARV treatment can help these people clear Covid-19 at a much faster rate.<\/p>\n
He called it a ‘wake up call’ that South Africa still needs to address its HIV problem, alongside the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n