Stealth-Adapted Viruses and Viteria: Insights into Virus Construction, Replication and Potential Therapies

Stealth-adaptation is a mechanism that allows cytopathic viruses to evade immune elimination through the deletion of genes coding the major antigens targeted by the cellular immune system. A prototype stealth-adapted virus, repeatedly cultured from a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was cloned and partially sequenced. It has a fragmented, genetically unstable, genome.