Researchers Discover Cold Virus Can "Hit And Hide"

An international team of researchers has discovered that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common cold virus causing bronchiolitis in children, can act as a 'hit and hide' virus. It was thought that the virus could only survive in the body for a few days, but these new results show that the virus can survive for many months or years, perhaps causing long-term effects on health, such as damage to the lungs. The research, published in this month's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, was a joint project between Imperial College London, St Mary's Hospital, London and the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, Germany.