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DIR Return to: Long Covid Studies
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#Post#: 6292--------------------------------------------------
COVID-19 can awaken dormant viruses that lie hidden in the body
for life, even in people with healthy immune systems
DIR By: Masked Man
Date: August 5, 2026, 8:18 pm
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UT-led study finds COVID-19 can awaken hidden viruses throughout
the body
Aug. 5, 2026
Researchers say dormant viruses many people harbor can
reactivate during COVID-19 and may be linked to long COVID
symptoms.
COVID-19 can awaken dormant viruses that lie hidden in the body
for life, even in people with otherwise healthy immune systems,
according to a study of more than 1,100 hospitalized patients
published today in Nature. The work, led by researchers at Dell
Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin in
collaboration with a national research consortium, points to a
hidden consequence of COVID-19 that could reshape how physicians
understand severe infections.
These dormant viruses are common and include the Epstein-Barr
virus, which causes mononucleosis, along with other related
viruses in the herpes family, all of which can reawaken during
periods of illness and stress. The study found that nearly half
of patients had at least one such virus reactivate during their
COVID-19 illness. Researchers also discovered that reactivation
was more common in sicker patients and was associated with a
range of serious health complications, longer hospital stays and
death.
“This finding suggests that COVID-19 may not always act as a
single viral infection and may disrupt the body’s internal
ecosystem of dormant viruses, creating a state of ‘dysvirosis,’”
said lead author Cole Maguire, who completed his Ph.D. research
in the UT Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program in the lab of
Esther Melamed, M.D., Ph.D., and is now a second-year medical
student at Dell Medical School.
One of the most surprising findings of this study was that
reactivation often occurred in people who were healthy before
developing COVID-19 and was not limited to those with suppressed
immune systems....
LINK
HTML https://dellmed.utexas.edu/news/ut-led-study-finds-covid-19-can-awaken-hidden-viruses-throughout-the-body
COMMENT: woah covid tis like a blitz! This study is very
informative and I would think should inspire more people to use
precautions such as masking. Hopefully all these studies will
explain some things and help those suffering and prove useful in
understanding the full repercussions and complications from
covid. Man, I hope doctors and nurses are paying attention to
these studies and this site!
Let's explore some connections here of how this applies to
myself or people I know:
My loved one had a friend from Canada that had Epstein-Barr
virus. She said it paralyzed him for six months. The virus
triggers an abnormal autoimmune response that attacks the
nervous system. I remember mono went around a lot during teenage
years in junior High school and high school there was always a
mono scare from time to time...
...this is very serious if covid can reawaken or reactivate
common viruses as indicated in the study.
Years ago my loved one caught Hepatitis B with 15 others from a
dentist ..COVID-19 can trigger the reactivation of dormant
(occult or resolved) Hepatitis B, causing a dangerous viral
flare.. also my loved one caught mono from wet towel from
college ... I definitely will keep masking and having my loved
one continue to take precautions against covid as it certainly
doesn't appear in her interest nor mine to catch covid. Covid is
dangerous!
Just for the sake of conversation I'm 55 years old and to give
us something t think about from when I grew up:
Based on 1980s population data and known incidence rates,
roughly 100,000 to 150,000 older children and teenagers
contracted symptomatic mono each year in the United States,
totaling well over 1 million kids across the decade.
.. so just thinking outloud here ...So 1 million people who are
now age 50-60 who had mono in school might have that disease
reactivated by catching covid? Whew, there are a multitude of
herpe type illnesses so that population would be far greater in
number.
Ive had chicken pox as a child..."A review of studies found that
people with COVID illness were twice as likely to develop
shingles compared to people who did not get sick with COVID." In
my era/age/generation everybody got chickenpox. That was before
chickenpox vaccines.. so that's a lot of people with
chickenpox..so that's a lot of people with dormant virus. If you
are my age 55 or so then if you catch covid you have to wonder
about what that does to your chickenpox and the shingles that
may come from it!
"In the 1980s, an estimated 4 million people contracted
chickenpox annually in the United States. Because the vaccine
was not yet available, contracting the virus was considered a
routine childhood rite of passage, resulting in roughly 10,000
to 14,000 hospitalizations and over 100 deaths each year"
So the article appears to be stating that covid can reactivate
dormant diseases or dormant repercussions from the diseases such
as what Ive mentioned .. here's just a fragment of herpetype
viruses...
NOTE:
"The major human herpesviruses and the diseases they cause
include:
Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1): Typically causes oral herpes
(cold sores/fever blisters) and can also cause genital herpes.
The virus lies dormant in the trigeminal nerve ganglion (near
the base of the brain).
Herpes Simplex Virus 2 (HSV-2): Primarily responsible for
genital herpes. It lies dormant in the sacral nerve root ganglia
(at the base of the spine).
Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV / HHV-3): Causes chickenpox during
initial infection. It then hides dormant in nerve tissue for
decades, often reactivating later in life to cause shingles.
Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV / HHV-4): Known for causing
mononucleosis ("mono"). It remains dormant in white blood cells
(B lymphocytes) for life.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV / HHV-5): A common virus that usually
causes no symptoms in healthy adults but can cause severe
complications for infants and those with weakened immune
systems. It lies dormant in various bodily tissues and white
blood cells.
Human Herpesviruses 6 and 7 (HHV-6 / HHV-7): Causes roseola
infantum (a common childhood rash). It lies dormant in various
blood cells.
Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV / HHV-8): Can
cause Kaposi's sarcoma (a form of cancer) in severely
immunocompromised individuals. It stays dormant in certain
immune cells."
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