Researchers in South Africa documented a case of a woman living with HIV who contracted COVID-19 about nine months ago. They discovered that the virus did not leave her body and managed to mutate inside her with over thirty genetic changes.
After feeling fatigue in September 2020, tests revealed that she had been infected with COVID-19 for more than seven months, as reported by the British "Daily Mail." The team from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban states that these findings provide the first real evidence that untreated HIV-positive patients may have weakened immune systems, allowing the coronavirus to take root and evolve into deadly variants that can spread to others.
The United Nations estimates that 7.5 million adults and children in South Africa are infected with the HIV virus. Once a person contracts HIV, the virus begins to attack and destroy immune cells that typically protect the body from infections, potentially leading to the life-threatening condition of AIDS.
In South Africa, HIV infections often go undetected, and it is believed that nearly 10% of the population is unaware of their infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIV patients receiving effective treatment are not at a higher risk of contracting the virus or suffering from more severe complications.
However, the study's results, published on medRxiv.org, are the first evidence suggesting that people with HIV can allow the virus to mutate multiple times within their bodies. The South African patient was diagnosed with HIV in 2006, but doctors were unable to control her viral load using conventional antiviral therapies.
