COVID-19 patients may be infected with multiple variants at the same time: studies

Researchers for two new studies say their evidence suggests less dominant variants may be simultaneously present in the same infected individual.

People who fall ill with COVID-19 may have more than one variant of the virus attacking them, according to a pair of new studies published earlier this year.

Researchers for the two studies — one published in January, the other in February — say their evidence suggests less dominant variants may be simultaneously present in the same infected individual, with some cloaking themselves from the immune system.

That could make it difficult for infected patients to get rid of COVID-19 from their systems entirely, said Kapil Gupta, lead author of the January study, in a statement Tuesday.

“Some of these variants may use kidney or spleen cells as their niche to hide, while the body is busy defending against the dominant virus type,” Gupta said.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the Max Planck Bristol Center for Minimal Biology at the University of Bristol created synthetic virus particles that could be manipulated in a controlled setting in order to study the structure of the virus, SARS-CoV-2, on a cellular level.

The particles allowed the research team to investigate the “pocket” of the virus’ spike protein, which it uses to attach itself to human cells, and study how the virus infects the body.

The pocket — which scientists found is present in all variants of SARS-CoV-2 — was found to be changing shape when binding to fatty acids in the body, folding itself into the cells and blocking the ACE2 receptors that antibodies use to fight off infection.

Researchers called the process “ducking down,” allowing the variant to avoid detection and increase infection efficacy — and potentially allowing more than one variant to take root in the body.