Study Links COVID-19 to Reactivation of Dormant Chronic Viruses

A study published in Nature involving 1,154 hospitalised patients found that 47.9% experienced reactivation of dormant viruses like EBV, CMV, and HSV-1 during the acute phase of Covid-19.

Researchers analysed over 200,000 samples collected between May 2020 and March 2021, identifying that viral reactivation was linked to increased disease severity and potential long-term health complications.

While the study establishes an association between viral reactivation and Covid-19 severity, researchers noted that it does not definitively prove these reactivated viruses are the direct cause of long Covid.