Woman in Belgium died after being infected with two Covid variants

Unvaccinated patient contracted the Alpha and Beta strains

Doctors in Belgium in protective equipment. A woman, 90, died in the Belgian city of Aalst after contracting two coronavirus strains.

A woman in Belgium who died after contracting Covid-19 was infected with both the Alpha and Beta variants of the virus.

Researchers say it is the first time the phenomenon has been recorded.

The unvaccinated woman, 90, died in March after she was admitted to hospital in the city of Aalst following a number of falls. She lived alone but received nursing care at her home and tested positive for Covid-19 on the day she was taken to hospital.

The Alpha variant was first found in the UK, while the Beta was initially detected in South Africa.

“Both these variants were circulating in Belgium at the time, so it is likely that the lady was co-infected with different viruses from two different people,” said molecular biologist Anne Vankeerberghen, who led the research and works at the hospital where the woman received care.

“Unfortunately, we don't know how she became infected.”

The woman’s oxygen levels were initially good but her health rapidly deteriorated and she passed away five days later. Ms Vankeerberghen said it was difficult to know if the double infection caused the woman’s condition to deteriorate so quickly.

She said there are “no other published cases” of similar co-infections but the “phenomenon is probably underestimated" because of limited testing for strains of concern.

“This study does highlight the need for more studies to determine whether infection with multiple variants of concern affects the clinical course of Covid-19 and whether this in any way compromises the efficacy of vaccination,” said Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, England.

The study, which has not yet been submitted to a medical journal for publication, is being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.