Many viruses remain in the body long after infection, but severe physiological stress can cause them to reactivate.
A new study of 1,154 hospitalised COVID-19 patients found significant reactivation of viruses from the Herpesviridae and Anelloviridae families, with different patterns throughout the illness. Reactivation occurred even in immunocompetent patients and was associated with increased inflammation, disease severity and poorer clinical outcomes.
The findings suggest that viral reactivation may be linked to the broader immune disruption caused by severe COVID-19. However, the study does not show that reactivation itself causes more severe disease.
A possible link to long COVID
Viral reactivation was also detected during recovery, with Anelloviridae showing an association with long COVID. While this does not prove that anelloviruses cause persistent symptoms, it offers a potential clue to the biological mechanisms behind long COVID. By combining immune, transcriptomic and metabolomic data, the researchers identified molecular signatures that could eventually help predict and treat severe COVID-19 and long COVID.
Overall, the study suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection may disrupt not only the virus itself, but also the wider network of chronic viruses that persist silently in the body.
