Why some viruses stay in the body for life - study

We are talking about so-called "hidden" viruses, which can stay in the body for a long time without symptoms.

Details

Scientists have studied the level of viral DNA in blood and saliva and found that it varies greatly from person to person.

It turned out that it is influenced by age, gender, habits and genetic features. For example, men on average had higher levels of viruses than women.

The researchers also identified dozens of genetic factors related to how the body controls viruses.

Epstein-Barr virus, one of the most common viruses most people have, was studied separately. Its levels varied with age and even depended on the time of year: it was higher in winter than in summer.

Smoking was also found to be associated with higher levels of the virus - avid smokers had almost twice the levels.

At the same time, scientists have found that not only the virus itself, but also the immune system's response to it plays an important role.

For example, the risk of certain diseases may be related not to the amount of virus, but to the way the body reacts to it.

Why it's important

Understanding how viruses behave in the body can help with prevention and early detection of disease.

Research shows that risks can be influenced by:

• genetic characteristics
• smoking and lifestyle
• age and gender
• immune system status

In the future, this may help to assess risks more accurately and develop new treatment approaches.

Background

Some viruses, including herpesviruses, remain in the body after infection and can be activated later. Their role in disease development is not fully understood.

Modern biobanks allow data from hundreds of thousands of people to be analysed, providing new opportunities to study such processes.

Source

The study is based on the analysis of data from more than 900 thousand people from large biobanks, including UK Biobank and the All of Us programme. The paper has been published in Nature (2026).