Patients could catch two COVID-19 strains at once, scientists say, after reports of dual infection from Brazil.
And it could lead to even more new variants evolving, with abilities to dodge vaccines and spread easier.
Amid growing concern of new variants popping up globally, doctors said they were the first to describe the phenomenon of a coronavirus coinfection.
Two people in their 30s tested positive for two Brazilian strains known as P.1 and P.2.
The patients were infected in late November with the P.2 variant of coronavirus identified in Rio.
They simultaneously tested positive for the P.1 variant of the virus which evolved separately in Manaus, which was confirmed with laboratory tests.
The patients’ symptoms were reportedly mild, with a dry cough in one case, and coughing, sore throat and headache in the second. They did not need hospital care.
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Dr Fernando Spilki, a virologist at Feevale University in Rio Grande do Sul state and…