British man tested positive for COVID-19 43 times in 10 months

A 72-year-old man in Bristol, England has tested positive for the coronavirus 43 times in what is believed to be the longest continuous infection case on record – around 10 months.

Dave Smith had already planned his funeral after testing positive for COVID-19 for 10 consecutive months. A retired driving instructor, Smith was hospitalized seven times during the course of his coronavirus infection.

“I had resigned myself, I had called the family, I had made peace with everyone, I had said goodbye,” he told the BBC.

The British man had a history of lung disease and had only recently recovered from leukemia when he caught the virus in March 2020.

Smith’s wife Linda also shared her struggles having to watch her husband endure COVID-19 for so long. “There were a lot of times we didn’t think he was going to make it. It’s been a hell of a year,” she said.

The 72-year-old is said to have “had an active virus in his body” throughout his battle with COVID-19. According to Ed Moran, an infectious disease consultant at the University of Bristol and the North Bristol National Health Service Trust, they were able to find out that Smith had an active virus by sending his sample to university partners.

“We were able to prove this by sending a sample of his virus to university partners who managed to develop it, proving that it was not just leftover products that triggered a PCR test, but a truly active virus. and viable, ”Moran explained.

Fortunately, Smith recovered from the virus after taking a new mix of antiviral drugs developed by Regeneron, a US biotech company. The treatment regimen given to Smith has been cleared for compassionate use, but is not yet clinically approved for use in the UK

Clinical tests done on Regeneron’s antiviral drugs has shown that the treatment was able to significantly reduce the number of deaths from COVID-19 in patients unable to develop a strong immune response against the virus.

“It’s like you’ve been given your life back,” Smith told the BBC.

He and his wife Linda immediately opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate after Smith finally tested negative for COVID-19 305 days after his first infection.

Andrew Davidson, a virologist at the University of Bristol, is now studying Smith’s case as “the longest infection recorded in the literature”.

“Where is the virus hiding in the body? How can it stay persistently infecting people? We don’t know,” Davidson said.

As for Smith, he said he was deeply thrilled with his recovery and now spent his time teaching his granddaughter how to drive.

“I went all the way to the bottom and everything is fine now,” he said.

A worker cleans the door of a Covid-19 test site in a car park in Penrith in Cumbria, north-west England, amid concerns over the Delta variant Photo: AFP / Oli SCARF