Have a virus?
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
A researcher says healthy people can carry viruses that could make them sick without it affecting their health – at least, immediately.
At Washington University School of Medicine, Kristine Wylie looked at data on 102 healthy people ages 18 to 40. She noted viruses that could cause colds, cold sores, warts, and cervical or throat cancer. But she says the young adults were doing fine:
“It indicates that the healthy body can establish a balance with the virus, where they are controlling it so that it’s not causing symptoms.”
Vaccines can reduce the risk that some viruses – such as for flu, and cervical and throat cancer – will cause disease.
The study in the journal BioMed Central Biology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more at healthfinder.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.