Yearlong COVID-19 Infection Reveals Within-Host Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in a Patient With B-Cell Depletion. (23rd December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nussenblatt, Veronique; Roder, Allison E; Das, Sanchita; de Wit, Emmie; Youn, Jung-Ho; Banakis, Stephanie; Mushegian, Alexandra; Mederos, Christopher; Wang, Wei; Chung, Matthew; Pérez-Pérez, Lizzette; Palmore, Tara; Brudno, Jennifer N; Kochenderfer, James N; Ghedin, Elodie
• Is Part Of: Journal of infectious diseases. Volume 225:Number 7(2022)
• Page Start: 1118
• Page End: 1123
• Publication Date: 2021-12-23
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- SARS-CoV-2 -- prolonged infection -- immunocompromised -- viral evolution; Communicable diseases -- Periodicals; Diseases -- Causes and theories of causation -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Communicable Diseases -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.9
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiab622
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1899

Abstract

Abstract: B-cell–depleting therapies may lead to prolonged disease and viral shedding in individuals infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and this viral persistence raises concern for viral evolution. We report sequencing of early and late samples from a 335-day infection in an immunocompromised patient. The virus accumulated a unique deletion in the amino‐terminal domain of the spike protein, and complete deletion of ORF7b and ORF8, the first report of its kind in an immunocompromised patient. Unique viral mutations found in this study highlight the importance of analyzing viral evolution in protracted SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in immunosuppressed hosts.