COVID Infection in Twins Prove the Unpredictable Nature of the Virus

The nature of the evolving COVID-19 or the novel Coronavirus has become unpredictable. With the new UK variant infecting over 50K people in a single day, it looks like it is trickier than imagined to find a cure. While there is research going on in almost every part of the world, scientists and doctors were startled to find the unusual behavior of Covid infection in twins.

The Unpredictable Nature of COVID Infection in Twins

In a case study mentioned in the Annals of Internal Medicine, it has been published how two 60-year old twin brothers who were identical twins and almost shared the same genes behaved differently on testing positive for Coronavirus. Initially both the twins showed symptoms of fever followed by dry cough. They were admitted at the hospital due to interstitial pneumonia. On administration of paracetamol, hydroxychloroquine and other measures to treat COVID-19, one of the twins recovered well after around 12 days of hospitalization while the health condition of his brother worsened. Due to breathing difficulty, he was taken into the ICU for respiratory assistance. His breathing abilities deteriorated so much so that he was provided with mechanical ventilation.

After being discharged from the ICU, the patient had to spend  another 17 days at the hospital before being certified fit to be discharged. This situation left the doctors puzzled because the identical twins shared the same genes and were brought up in the same household. Their source of infection is from the same customer as well. But, the severity of Covid infection in the twins differed to a great extent. Apparently, the only difference between them is that the one who showed mild symptoms was married whereas his twin remained single. Though this information may seem trivial, the doctors aren’t ready to miss even the slightest clue as to find how Coronavirus behaves in twins.

It is true that the severity of Coronavirus is different in each individual. We’ve witnessed so many individuals who have been tested positive yet didn’t show any kind of symptoms. Age, sex, kind of exposure, immunity, every single detail matters to gauge the severity of the infection.