Talk:Virus latency

Virology-accurate definition of latency

Would like to update article to clarify the role of latency, and describe it clearly in terms of virology.

The virology terms latency, dormancy, and abortive infection are nuanced, and well reviewed in doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2010.06.014

I propose the definition of latency as having the following nuances

• Requires virus entry into a cell (EG, the persistence of an infectious virus particle, just hanging outside of a cell) is not latency.
• Requires maintenance of the genome
• Requires that no new infectious progeny viruses are made during the period of latency
• The genome can be re-activated to form infectious new particles in the future (rules out abortive infections, persistence of genomes without the ability to reactivate and create new progeny)

The following should not be captured by the definition of viral latency:

• abortive infection (EG, dead-end hosts, where the virus can enter, express proteins, but not produce new viral progeny)
• persistence of a low-level "smoldering" infection, such as observed by many slow viruses
• clinical latency (production of new infectious virus without symptoms)
• infection of a non-permissive cell (nuance needed, eg HPV lifecycle)

Welcome any feedback and discussion on the topic. Cheers, ~Testtubewaltz Testtubewaltz (talk) 15:12, 10 June 2025 (UTC)

The citation is old. Is there a more recent review? Graham Beards (talk) 15:19, 10 June 2025 (UTC)

Adding to this: I'm sure a good virology textbook would have these terms defined using more up to date information. IntentionallyDense ^(Contribs) 04:43, 11 June 2025 (UTC)