A biological perspective of slow virus infection and chronic disease

Sequential events characterize the interaction of viruses with parenchymal cells, and acute lytic infections of tissues and organs have broad biological attributes. A knowledge of these permits a keener understanding of persistent, intermittent herpesvirus infections and persistent, continuous respiratory virus infections. In addition to unique biochemical mechanisms which may permit the latter chronic infections to evolve, the roles of defective and mutant strains of virus, viral interference, and the genetic, developmental and immunological expressions of the host are of considerable and provocative importance. The traditional view of viral infections embraces a broad spectrum of acute pathological and inflammatory events. The relationship of measles virus to subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, the elucidation of the latency of herpes simplex virus, and the slow unmasking of the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis have illustrated the subtle elements of persistent viral infections of the human being. These chronic neurological diseases have provided the opportunity and stimulus for sharp dissection of the biological and biochemical processes which embellish the logical link of viral infections to other forms of chronic human illness.