Leukemia patient from Turkey tests Covid positive 78 times in over a year
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Kayasan speaks to people including his granddaughter through a glass door even as doctors monitor his case while making sure he is protected from a mutated variant.
A man suffering from Leukemia in Turkey has tested positive for coronavirus 78 times in the past 14 months but has remained cheerful and hopes to get well soon.
Muzaffer Kayasan, 56, was detected with the virus in November 2020 as he spent nine months in a hospital and five months alone battling the virus at home in Istanbul.
Doctors say his condition was possibly due to a weakened immune system since he suffers from cancer but Kayasan's spirits have remained high. His condiction is now recorded as Turkey's longest case of continuous COVID-19 infection.
Kayasan speaks to people including his granddaughter through a glass door even as doctors monitor his case while making sure he is protected from a mutated variant. Kayasan has tested positive for 441 days and has said he has lost his sense of taste and smell although he has remained positive.
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Kayasan cannot meet his wife and son although he has remained in contact with them. The Istanbul resident says he misses touching his family while lamenting the fact that he cannot get vaccinated due to his present condition. Turkey's virus protocol states that a person should recover fully before being administered the vaccine.
"I guess this is the female version of COVID - she has been obsessed with me," Kayasan joked as yet another test proved he was still positive over a year after first testing positive.
According to a medical report, coronavirus patients with immunosuppression may suffer a prolonged case of COVID-19. A report by Washington's health department had said some immunocompromised individuals should receive four doses of the vaccine due to their weakened immune systems.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), people are considered moderately or severely immunocompromised if they have been receiving active cancer treatment for tumours or cancers of the blood including HIV patients and other cases.
(With inputs from Agencies)