It is probably the longest-lasting infection with the corona virus ever: Muzaffer Kayasan has been tested positive for the corona virus for 14 months. The doctors suspect that Kayasan’s immune system weakened by cancer is to blame for the long infection.
The 56-year-old has already tested positive 78 times using a PCR test, for the first time in December 2020. Since then he has been in the hospital for nine months and in isolation at home for four months. Nevertheless, the Turk does not lose hope. “I guess that’s the female version of Covid – she’s obsessed with me,” Kayasan joked to Reuters last week after learning of his latest positive corona test.
The worst thing for him is that he can’t get close to his family. Through a glass door in his apartment, he can watch his granddaughter Azra play. “I’ll play with you when I’m better,” he promised her.
One in four leukemia patients does not develop antibodies despite vaccination
Vaccination is out of the question for Kayasan due to the positive test. According to Turkish guidelines, one cannot be vaccinated until one has fully recovered. It is questionable how much a vaccination would bring him at all.
According to a study by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, one in four leukemia patients does not produce any antibodies even after two vaccinations. Kayasan, who has lost his sense of smell and taste due to the infection, is now appealing to the authorities to at least relax his isolation. (obf)