Severe COVID-19 linked to reactivation of dormant viruses

A study of 1,154 hospitalized patients published in Nature found that severe COVID-19 can reactivate dormant viruses like Epstein-Barr and cytomegalovirus, worsening clinical outcomes.

Researchers detected RNA from 11 reactivated viruses within 40 days of admission, noting that Anelloviridae reactivation was strongly associated with long COVID and physical disability.

The analysis, using data from 20 US hospitals, found that patients with cytomegalovirus in the respiratory tract were more likely to die within one year of infection.