Dave Smith is 72 and lives in Bristol. As thousands of people got infected with the coronavirus at the start of the first wave of 2020 in the UK, but the virus remained in his body for 290 days before being eliminated forever (hopefully). His story is an extreme case and the Guardian tells it. According to the British newspaper, it is the longest Covid-19 infection ever recorded in scientific literature to date.
Seven hospitalizations and 42 swabs
Unlike the majority of patients, who tend to become negative within a couple of weeks, or even extreme cases of prolonged Covid which usually resolve within 4 months at the latest, Smith has instead continued to living with the virus for almost a year on entering and leaving the hospital seven times, as demonstrated by an impressive series of 42 positive swabs in succession. At the beginning I was really sick, on the verge of death, so much so that my wife organized my funeral five times he says.
Leukemia and cancer
Already suffering from leukemia, and successfully undergoing chemotherapy in 2019, the former Bristol driving instructor like many immunosuppressed patients he had low levels of antibodies to neutralize the virus due to chemotherapy treatments and, in his case, also for a hereditary condition of a defect in the cells that produce antibodies. I was completely drained of energy and lost my sense of smell, which hasn’t returned yet. But I didn’t get tested for Covid until April, when they took me to the hospital because I had developed a chest infection, he says. After first hospitalization He was discharged with antibiotic therapy, but was then hospitalized again because he was too weak. When he tested positive for Covid again, the initial hypothesis was that he had been reinfected, but genetic sequencing of the virus revealed that it was the same infection.
The monoclonal antibody
The turning point for Dave Smith came through the compassionate use of the monoclonal antibody cocktail developed by Regeneron, used at the time to put former President Donald Trump back on track. Smith’s health did not improve immediately but after a few weeks he regained enough energy that he was able to walk and reach the bathroom on his own. I was so happy, for the first time I was able to make a cup of coffee for my wife after everything she did for me.
The healing
Forty-five days after receiving the monoclonal antibody, Smith received a negative swab. When I had confirmation, we toasted champagne. I will not go back to the way it was before because Covid destroyed my lungs but every day of life is a gift.
Long-Covid, the insights
June 24, 2021 (change June 24, 2021 | 17:59)
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