According to the scientists, Lester’s condition was reportedly due to a long-term infection caused by his immunocompromised medical condition.
A man from the UK who tested positive for Coronavirus for more than seven months straight has been successfully treated with a Covid-19 vaccine, as per media reports. This is the very first time that a Covid vaccine has been utilized not just to prevent the infection but to actually treat it. The 37-year-old man, Ian Lester, is said to have a weak immune system. He tested Covid positive in December 2020. Although the symptoms of his infection were mild, Lester continued to test positive for the next seven months. He was reportedly given two shots of the Pfizer vaccine to clear off his infection.
According to the scientists, Lester’s condition was reportedly due to a long-term infection caused by his immunocompromised medical condition. Dr. Mark Ponsford, a scientist at Cardiff University, told the BBC that the vaccine really made a great difference, in antibodies and T-cells, and utilized every last drop out of what his immune system could do. During this period, Lester had to spend a lot of his time in isolation at his home in Caerphilly, Wales, and even had to quit his job, as doctors believed that he would be contagious due to his weak immune system, reported IBTimes.
Lester was eventually declared Covid-free in August, 218 days after it was first detected, and 72 days after getting his first vaccine, according to media reports. Based on Lester’s case, the researchers and scientists are now hopeful that Covid vaccines could be used as a more durable option for treating the infection in people who have weak immune systems.
The goal now is to see if the treatment that gave Lester his life back could work for other people. However, the researchers will still have to first test the vaccine as a treatment option in more patients with prolonged infections before concluding that it can work.