The research was part of a study that looked at whether virus mutations can form in people who carry COVID-19 for a very long time.
该研究是另一项旨在研究长期感染新冠肺炎者是否会形成病毒突变的研究的一部分。

The study involved nine patients who tested positive for the virus for at least eight weeks. All patients had weakened immune systems linked to organ replacement operations, HIV, cancer or other diseases.
该研究涉及了9名病毒检测呈阳性至少达8周的患者。所有患者的免疫系统都因为器官置换手术、艾滋病毒、癌症或其它疾病而削弱。

Repeated tests showed that the patients' infections lasted an average of 73 days. Two of them had the virus longer than a year. Before the study, the longest-known COVID-19 case was believed to have lasted 335 days.
反复检测表明，这些患者的感染平均持续了73天。其中两人感染病毒超过1年。在这项研究以前，已知最长时间的新冠肺炎病例被认为持续了335天。

Dr. Luke Blagdon Snell helped lead the study. He told The Associated Press the researchers considered the cases studied to be "persistent" COVID-19. This is different from what has been described as "long COVID-19."
卢克·布莱戈登·斯内尔协助领导了这项研究。他对美联社表示，研究人员认为所研究的病例是“持续的”新冠肺炎。这跟所谓的“长期的”新冠肺炎不同。

With long COVID-19, it is believed that the virus has been cleared from the patient's body, but individuals can still experience signs, or symptoms, of disease, Snell said. A persistent infection "represents ongoing, active replication of the virus," he added.
斯内尔表示，随着长期新冠肺炎的出现，人们认为病毒已经从患者体内清除，但是个人仍会出现疾病的迹象或症状。他补充说，持续感染“代表病毒的持续、积极复制。”

Each time researchers tested patients, they examined the genetic code of the virus to make sure it was the same version, or variant. Results from the study showed that the virus could change and mutate over time.
每次研究人员进行检测时，他们都会检查病毒的遗传密码，以查明白它是相同版本或是变种。研究结果表明，随着时间推移，病毒可能会发生变化或变异。

Snell said the observed mutations were similar to ones that later showed up in widespread variants of COVID-19. But the team noted that none of the new mutations in the nine cases became variants of concern. There was also no evidence that any of the patients had spread the virus to others.
斯内尔表示，观察到的突变与后来出现在新冠肺炎广泛传播变种中的突变类似。但是该研究小组指出，9个病例中的新突变没有成为受关注的变种。也没有证据表明有任何患者将病毒传播给其他人。

Five of the nine patients studied survived. Two got rid of the infection without treatment. Two cleared the infection after treatment and one still has COVID-19.
研究的9名患者中有5人幸存了下来。有两人在未经过治疗的情况下摆脱了感染。两人在治疗后清除了感染，有一人仍然感染新冠肺炎。

The person with the longest known infection tested positive in early 2020, and was treated with the drug remdesivir and died in 2021.
已知感染时间最长的这个人在2020年初检测呈阳性，接受了瑞德西韦药物治疗，并于2021年死亡。

The study team refused to name the exact cause of the patient's death. The researchers said the patient had other diseases, along with COVID-19.
该研究小组拒绝说出患者死亡的确切原因。研究人员表示，该患者患有其它疾病，以及新冠肺炎。

Scientists hope to develop treatments to help people recover from persistent COVID-19 infections. "We do need to be mindful that there are some people who are more susceptible to these problems like persistent infection and severe disease," Snell said.
科学家们希望开发出治疗方法，帮助人们从持续的新冠肺炎感染中恢复过来。斯内尔表示：“我们确实需要注意，有些人更容易受到这些问题的影响，例如持续的感染和严重疾病。”