Mary Wilson
Well-known member
Published 04 July 2023
Cite this as: BMJ 2023;382
1156
doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p1156
Andy Extance
The question of how SARS-CoV-2 persists in the body has refocused scientists on the question of where viruses persist in humans more generally. Andy Extance summarises a complex situation Where do known viruses linger in the body?
Virus particles often hide in “immunoprivileged sites” around the human body, also sometimes called sanctuary sites, that our immune systems don’t monitor or protect as closely as the rest of our bodies.1These include the brain, spinal cord, pregnant uterus, testes, and eyes, for which damage by immune cells would be highly problematic. The testes can harbour Zika2 and Ebola3 viruses, for example.
Viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 primarily infect the respiratory tract but can move elsewhere. Influenza viruses can persist after infection in people’s intestinal tract and stool,4 through swallowed secretions from the nose and throat or viruses in the blood. HIV is a latent virus that inserts its genome into the DNA of a person’s immune cells, specifically their T cells and macrophages. Latent hepatitis C virus resides in the liver.
Over the past 20-30 years laboratory measurements have become sensitive enough to pick up on viral RNA outside the known sanctuary locations.1 ...
https://www.bmj.com/content/382/bmj.p1156
Cite this as: BMJ 2023;382
1156doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p1156
Andy Extance
The question of how SARS-CoV-2 persists in the body has refocused scientists on the question of where viruses persist in humans more generally. Andy Extance summarises a complex situation Where do known viruses linger in the body?
Virus particles often hide in “immunoprivileged sites” around the human body, also sometimes called sanctuary sites, that our immune systems don’t monitor or protect as closely as the rest of our bodies.1These include the brain, spinal cord, pregnant uterus, testes, and eyes, for which damage by immune cells would be highly problematic. The testes can harbour Zika2 and Ebola3 viruses, for example.
Viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 primarily infect the respiratory tract but can move elsewhere. Influenza viruses can persist after infection in people’s intestinal tract and stool,4 through swallowed secretions from the nose and throat or viruses in the blood. HIV is a latent virus that inserts its genome into the DNA of a person’s immune cells, specifically their T cells and macrophages. Latent hepatitis C virus resides in the liver.
Over the past 20-30 years laboratory measurements have become sensitive enough to pick up on viral RNA outside the known sanctuary locations.1 ...
https://www.bmj.com/content/382/bmj.p1156