Study Finds Severe COVID-19 Reactivates 11 Dormant Viruses Within 40 Days
Updated
Updated · abcnews.com · Aug 10
Study Finds Severe COVID-19 Reactivates 11 Dormant Viruses Within 40 Days
3 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · Aug 10
Summary
1,154 hospitalized COVID-19 patients showed reactivation of 11 dormant viruses within 40 days of admission, based on more than 200,000 samples tracked over a year.
Nature-published findings linked severe illness to reactivation of herpes viruses including Epstein-Barr, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus-1, plus Anelloviridae, which most adults carry.
Anelloviridae reactivation was associated with long COVID and long-term physical disability, while Epstein-Barr and cytomegalovirus appeared to reactivate in response to inflammation rather than immune suppression.
The study did not prove the reactivated viruses cause long COVID or disability, and its results may not apply to mild or moderate infections because it only examined hospitalized patients.
Researchers said the work could guide future diagnostics and treatments for long COVID, but outside experts said it raises more questions than answers about whether the viruses play any disease-causing role.