How COVID-19 Reactivates Dormant Viruses Inside Us

🦠 What if COVID-19 doesn’t fight alone? New research suggests that severe COVID-19 can awaken dormant viruses already living inside our bodies—including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), CMV, HSV-1, and Anelloviridae.In this episode of The Deepdive Lab, we explore the hidden “passenger list” carried by most humans and the surprising phenomenon researchers call dysvirosis—a disruption of the body’s normally quiet viral ecosystem. The 2026 IMPACC study, involving 1,154 hospitalized patients, found that different viruses reactivate at different stages of severe illness and that reactivation is associated with systemic inflammation, kidney stress, and poorer recovery outcomes.Could these sleeping viruses help explain why some people develop severe disease or persistent Long COVID symptoms? And could monitoring them become part of future antiviral treatment? 🔬🎧 Listen as we uncover the hidden viral world living inside us.#COVID19 #LongCOVID #Virology #Viruses #EBV #CMV #Immunology #SciencePodcast #TheDeepdiveLab #HealthScienceSource: Maguire et al., Nature (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10740-z