What viruses have hidden long term effects?

February 26, 2022 2:24 PM

Looking for examples of viruses that people live with, without symptoms, until something develops years after initial infection. If you had chicken pox, in the future you may get shingles. If you have HPV you may get cancer. Hepatitis can lead to liver failure. What else?
posted by Sophont to Health & Fitness (22 answers total)

does it have to be a virus? stomach ulcers can be a precursor to stomach cancer but I think the actor there is a bacterium, not sure.
posted by fingersandtoes at 2:29 PM on February 26, 2022

There are strong theories that Epstein-Barr virus (mono) is associated with later development of multiple sclerosis.
posted by xo at 2:33 PM on February 26, 2022 [11 favorites]

Epstein-Barr and others are also highly correlated with CFS/ME and POTS. MANY chronic illnesses or chronic health issues are related to post-viral conditions. I don't know if anyone could give you a full list, given how common it is.
posted by Crystalinne at 2:39 PM on February 26, 2022 [3 favorites]

"The seven known human oncogenic viruses are Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1), human papillomaviruses (HPVs), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV; also known as human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8)) and Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) (Table 1 and reviewed in ref.2)" from here, Nature Review Microbiology, 2018. The table has further details of associated cancers.
posted by neda at 2:41 PM on February 26, 2022 [6 favorites]

Previously
posted by Dashy at 2:42 PM on February 26, 2022

The natural course of HIV includes an extended period largely without symptoms. Though acute HIV infection is sometimes accompanied by flu like symptoms, people living with HIV can remain fairly healthy without treatment for years, until their immune system begins to fail.
posted by reren at 3:10 PM on February 26, 2022

If you have polio as a young person, you may have post-polio syndrome later in life.

Syphilis can hide and cause different problems later in life as tertiary syphilis.

Prion diseases hide out for quite a while, there are different types, notably CJD, popularly known as mad cow disease.

Latent disease

There's a newly published study about Epstein-Barr Virus (Mono) and MS and possibly other diseases.
posted by theora55 at 3:11 PM on February 26, 2022 [5 favorites]

Measles and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. Uncommom but horrible condition.
posted by aquamvidam at 3:17 PM on February 26, 2022 [4 favorites]

Strep throat and guttate psoriasis, which is the rarer, spotty, type (and which I have) rather than the more common plaque psoriasis (which is the one that looks like patches on the skin).
posted by essexjan at 3:30 PM on February 26, 2022 [4 favorites]

Several of the diseases mentioned above (strep, syphilis) are caused by bacteria, and prions are an entity unto themselves. I don't know if you care about that distinction for the purposes of this question.

Sticking strictly to viruses, though, my vote would be for the link between herpesviridae and Alzheimer disease.
posted by basalganglia at 3:46 PM on February 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

COVID-19 is, of course, the new kid on the block, but we are already seeing signs of the destruction in its wake.
posted by armeowda at 4:03 PM on February 26, 2022 [3 favorites]

As someone says above strep throat is caused by bacteria, but if you're counting all infections: Strep throat can also lead to OCD and other neuropsychiatric illnesses in children. It is called PANDAS , an acronym for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections.
posted by nantucket at 4:11 PM on February 26, 2022 [4 favorites]

The resemblance between CFS and post-polio syndrome is very intriguing:

The precise mechanism that causes PPS is unknown. It shares many features with chronic fatigue syndrome, but unlike that disorder, it tends to be progressive, and can cause loss of muscle strength.
...
After a period of prolonged stability individuals who had been infected and recovered from polio begin to experience new signs and symptoms, characterised by muscular atrophy (decreased muscle mass), weakness, pain and fatigue in limbs that were originally affected or in limbs that didn't seem to have been affected at the time of the initial polio illness.[2] PPS is a very slowly progressing condition marked by periods of stability followed by new declines in the ability to carry out usual daily activities.[3] Most patients become aware of their decreased capacity to carry out daily routines due to significant changes in mobility, decreasing upper limb function and lung capability. Fatigue is often the most disabling symptom; even slight exertion often produces disabling fatigue and can also intensify other symptoms. ...
...
Numerous theories have been proposed to explain post-polio syndrome. Despite this, there are currently no absolutely defined causes of PPS. The most widely accepted theory of the mechanism behind the disorder is "neural fatigue". ...
...
Finally, it has been proposed that the initial polio infection causes an autoimmune reaction, in which the body's immune system attacks normal cells as if they were foreign substances. Again, compared to neural fatigue, the evidence supporting this theory is quite limited.[9]
...
Epidemiology
Post-polio syndrome occurs in approximately 25–50% of people who survive a poliomyelitis infection.[18] On average, it occurs 30–35 years afterwards; however, delays of between 8–71 years have been recorded.[19][20] The disease occurs sooner in persons with more severe initial infection.[20] Other factors that increase the risk of postpolio syndrome include increasing length of time since acute poliovirus infection, presence of permanent residual impairment after recovery from the acute illness,[19][20] and being female.[21]

Post-polio syndrome is documented to occur in cases of nonparalytic polio (NPP). One review states late-onset weakness and fatigue occurs in 14% to 42% of NPP patients.[22]

Polio is an enterovirus, and this has led some CFS patients and researchers to speculate about other enteroviruses as causes.
posted by jamjam at 4:12 PM on February 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also not a virus, but lyme disease/post-lyme conditions have a similar pattern to some of these other illnesses.
posted by lgyre at 5:02 PM on February 26, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Measles causes "immune amnesia" by screwing up your memory B cells, leading to increased mortality from other infections in the years following a measles infection.
posted by heatherlogan at 5:57 PM on February 26, 2022 [4 favorites]

Mumps is linked to male infertility.

As fertility patients, my husband and I underwent annual infectious disease screenings. Carrying a virus can interfere with your ability to safely conceive and carry to term.

Covid has been linked to decreased fertility, possibly due to high fever.
posted by champers at 6:01 PM on February 26, 2022

Here is a PLOS article from a little over a year ago which could be seen as the T cell supplement to heatherlogan's very interesting link about the effects of memory B cell amnesia caused by the measles virus.

In short: also dire.
posted by jamjam at 6:53 PM on February 26, 2022 [2 favorites]

This Vox Unexplainable episode talks about long term viral issues.
posted by LoveHam at 6:52 AM on February 27, 2022 [1 favorite]

A dormant or latent virus is the term for the situation where a virus can lie dormant in a cell for a long period of time before re-activating and being multiplying again. The wikipedia article linked has a lot of information, or you can google those terms to find out much more.

Per wikipedia all members of the herpes virus family exhibit latency. There are 115 known species altogether and 9 species that infect humans. You have probably heard of some of those - several are listed by other posters above - but not all nine.

HIV can also go latent.

Lambda phage is a well studied example of a latent virus (though it doesn't cause disease in humans).

Virology online has a good rundown of latent virus infections that includes these examples:

* Chronic Congenital Rubella, Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr Virus, hepatitis B, HIV

* Latent Herpes simplex virus, Varicella zoster virus, adenovirus and some retroviral infections

* Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (measles), Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (polyomavirus JC), Kuru (prion), Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (also prion), progressive rubella panencephalitis (rubella virus)

A related concept is "slow virus." Examples of slow virus diseases include several mentioned above and also:

* Paget's disease (respiratory syncytial virus, canine distemper virus, measles virus)

* BK nephropathy (BK virus)

* Rabies (rabies virus)
posted by flug at 9:49 AM on February 27, 2022 [3 favorites]

Influenza and Parkinson's disease are associated.
posted by gemutlichkeit at 3:34 PM on February 27, 2022

Dengue fever. Not a virus but malaria.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 4:39 PM on February 27, 2022

Response by poster: In this Twitter thread an epidemiologist answers this question.
posted by Sophont at 8:18 AM on March 7, 2022 [1 favorite]