Covid-19: Risk of mutated variants among immunocompromised patients, new study shows

Immunocompromised patients tend to develop chronic coronavirus infections, leading to highly mutated variants that bear multiple antibody-resistant mutations, according to a new study carried out by a research team at Tel Aviv University, Israel. The study involved an examination of chronic COVID-19 patients at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (“Ichilov Hospital”) and was published this week in Nature Medicine. The researchers found that a weakened antibody response, particular in the lower airways of these chronic patients, may prevent full recovery from the virus and drive the virus to mutate many times during a lengthy infection. They explained that the virus’ ability to survive and reproduce in the immunosuppressed patient’s body without restriction leads to the evolution of many variants.