Persistent Covid infection, which is different from long Covid occurs in a small number of patients. These patients can test positive for months or even years.
Report of NHS foundation, London
The infection can pose a serious threat because half of the patients also have persistent symptoms such as lung inflammation, said Luke Snell, a physician specializing in infectious diseases at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College, London.
He described how a 59-year-old man overcame his infection after more than thirteen months. The man, who has a weakened immune system due to a Kidney transplant, caught Covid in December 2020 and tested positive until January this year.
The man had an early B.1 variant which was dominant in late 2020. The researchers gave him a combination of Casirivimab and Imdevimab Monoclonal antibodies from Regeneron.