Exposing the human virome

As medicine advances, we have come to realize that viral infections early in life can still be playing out in our body decades later, long after the primary infection has ended. New research has indicated that viral infections can precipitate the onset of a diverse array of long-term illnesses, from Alzheimer disease to chronic fatigue syndrome and type 1 diabetes mellitus (1 ). With that in mind, clinicians are interested in understanding more about viral exposures and how viral infections affect the body over the longterm.