How Do Acute Viral Infections Turn Chronic?

A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania became curious why certain, seemingly acute, viral infections, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), measles, parainfluenza, and Ebola, can persist for extended periods of time. RSV, for example, can lead to chronic respiratory problems, measles can lead to encephalitis, and the Ebola virus can be transmitted by patients thought to be cured of the disease. Now, new findings—published recently in Nature Communications in an articl