CMV (Cytomegalovirus): Not Just Life Threatening to Babies; CBCD Explains How Latent CMV Can Still Cause Disease

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A virus is still shedding copies of itself during the latent phase, meaning it still replicates, and still microcompetes. - CBCD

Rochester, NY (PRWEB) March 21, 2014

Babies can be killed by the cytomegalovirus (CMV). NBC news reports on a family whose baby died from a CMV infection, and who are now raising awareness about the virus. “The family spoke about the little known virus that took the life of their newborn baby and why everyone should know about CMV. ‘It wasn't until literally the day before we had her that we had any signs at all,’ said father, Patrick Armstrong. Just 12 days after being born, baby Maddie passed away (1).” The CMV virus that attacked the baby was likely active.

However, the Center for the Biology of Chronic Disease (CBCD) points out that a latent virus is dangerous too.

Why?

Many scientists believe that latent viruses can only cause disease if reactivated. Reactivation means that the virus begins to produce all of its proteins and make copies of itself on a large scale. In contrast, Dr. Polansky’s Theory of Microcompetition says that viruses can cause disease while still latent, that is, without being active, or being reactivated.

The Theory of Microcompetition, as put forward by Dr. Hanan Polansky in his highly acclaimed book entitled “Microcompetition with Foreign DNA and the Origin of Chronic Disease,” explains how latent viruses can cause many major diseases. One of these viruses is the human cytomegalovirus (CMV).

Why is this important?

Most people who have a CMV infection do not know it. They harbor a latent infection that shows no symptoms, which are associated with reactivation. These people should be careful. They are at risk of developing “Fever of unknown origin, pneumonia, hepatitis, encephalitis, myelitis, colitis, uveitis, retinitis, and neuropathy. Rarer manifestations of CMV infections in immunocompetent individuals include Guillain-Barré syndrome, meningoencephalitis, pericarditis, myocarditis, thrombocytopenia, and hemolytic anemia.” (See MedScape.com, last updated October 14, 2013) (2).

Latent viruses replicate on a small scale even when they are not reactivated. This is something overlooked by many in the medical field today. As stated by Dr. Hanan Polansky, the latent CMV virus microcompetes with human genes for limited genetic resources, and as a result, can drive the human genes to malfunction, and cause disease.

Some scientists wrongly believe that if a virus is latent, then it is harmless. A latent virus is not dead. It continues to express some of its proteins and therefore to microcompete with human genes.

Consider the paper entitled “Human Cytomegalovirus Persistence” published February 13, 2012 in the journal, Cellular Microbiology (3). “Both the chronic and latent states of infection contribute to HCMV persistence and to the high HCMV seroprevalence worldwide. The chronic infection is poorly defined molecularly, but clinically manifests as low-level virus shedding over extended periods of time and often in the absence of symptoms (3).”

A virus is still shedding copies of itself during the latent phase, meaning it still replicates, and still microcompetes.

The same paper goes on to say: “Transcripts and proteins encoded from a region encompassing the major immediate early region are detected in hematopoietic cells following infection in vitro as well as in latently infected individuals.” (Kondo et al., 1996; Landini et al., 2000) (3).

What does it all mean? Latent viruses such as the human cytomegalovirus continue to replicate, and therefore can cause disease even without reactivation, or while still latent.

The CBCD urges the medical community to learn more about Microcompetition by downloading a free copy of Dr. Polansky’s book at: http://www.cbcd.net.

For more information on the Center for the Biology of Chronic Disease, or to schedule an interview with one of our researchers, please visit http://www.cbcd.net or call 585-250-9999.

References:

(1)    Texas family using their story to raise awareness of CMV. Published on March 1, 2014.
http://www.ketknbc.com/news/texas-family-using-their-story-to-raise-awareness
(2)    Medscape.com - Cytomegalovirus - Practice Essentials. Last updated on October 14, 2013. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/215702-overview
(3)    Human cytomegalovirus persistence. Published on May 14, 2012. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22329758

The Center for the Biology of Chronic Disease (CBCD, http://www.cbcd.net) is a research center recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-for-profit organization.

The mission of the CBCD is to advance the research on the biology of chronic diseases, and to accelerate the discovery of treatments for these diseases.

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