Table 1.

Summary of major characteristics of seven chronic/latent viruses of interest.

Virus	Estimated Prevalence	Linked to Shorter TL in Immune Cells	Associated Age- Related Diseases	Main Modes of Transmission	Chronic vs. Latent Virus	References
CMV	Children: 20–70% HIV+ adults: >84% HIV- adults: 50–85%	Yes	Atherosclerosis, autoimmune disease; also associated with increased immune activation and inflammation in PLWH	Bodily fluids, perinatal	Latent. Infects a broad range of human cell types and is asymptomatic in most healthy individuals	[25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33]
EBV	Children: 54–83% HIV+ adults: ~90% HIV- adults: ~48%	Yes	Lymphoma (Burkitt’s, Hodgkin’s, and non-Hodgkin), gastric carcinoma, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease	Bodily fluids, especially saliva	Latent. Acquisition in childhood results in generally mild or asymptomatic disease and can cause mononucleosis if acquired in adolescence. Following primary infection of epithelial cells and B cells, it establishes lifelong latency in memory B cells	[34,35,36,37,38]
HHV-8	Children: 2–6% HIV+ adults: 26–57% HIV- adults: 2–7%	Yes	Kaposi Sarcoma	Blood, saliva, sexual contact	Latent. During primary infection, HHV-8 infects different cell types such as B cells, monocytes, and endothelial cells. Following primary infection, lifelong latency is established mainly in B cells and endothelial cells	[39,40,41,42,43]
HSV-1	Children: 0–32% HIV+ adults: ~78% HIV- adults: 55–89%	Yes	Osteoporosis, cardiovascular events, dementia	Mostly oral–oral contact (oral herpes), perinatal	Latent. Primarily infects epithelial cells and neurons in the peripheral nervous system. In immunocompetent individuals, HSV-1 establishes lifelong latency in their sensory neurons while appearing phenotypically asymptomatic	[44,45,46,47]
HSV-2	Children: 0–16% HIV+ adults: ~55% HIV- adults: 20–28%	No	Osteoporosis, cardiovascular events, dementia	Sexual contact, perinatal; HSV-2 is associated with increased risk of HIV transmission	Latent. Like HSV-1, infects cells in the peripheral nervous system and establishes lifelong latency in the nucleus of sensory ganglia	[47,48,49]
HCV	Children: 0.2–0.4% HIV+ adults: ~18% HIV- adults: 0.8–1.0%	Yes	Liver disease	Primarily blood, vertical transmission	Chronic. Approximately 25% of those infected clear the virus spontaneously, while ~80% of people acutely infected will become chronically infected. And approximately 20% of those chronically infected will develop end-stage liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, or liver cirrhosis	[50,51,52]
HBV	Children: <0.001% HIV+ adults: 6–14% HIV- adults: <0.005–0.4%	Yes	Liver disease	Bodily fluids, blood, vertical transmission	Chronic. Most adults will go on to clear the virus spontaneously. Chronic infections can lead to severe liver damage resulting in cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma	[53,54,55,56]