UT Austin Study Finds Severe COVID-19 Reactivates Dormant Viruses

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin published a study in Nature on August 6 showing that severe COVID‑19 can reactivate dormant viruses in the body. The observational analysis used data from 1,154 unvaccinated patients hospitalized at 20 U.S. hospitals between May 2020 and March 2021, generating more than one billion biological data points from nasal swabs, blood and respiratory samples.

RNA sequencing detected active replication of eleven latent viruses, most prominently Epstein‑Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus‑1 and members of the Anelloviridae family. Reactivation of Anelloviridae was strongly associated with the development of Long COVID symptoms and long‑term physical disability. The findings suggest that SARS‑CoV‑2–induced immune disruption may allow latent infections to resurface, contributing to prolonged post‑COVID illness.