Advances in cytomegalovirus (CMV) biology and its relationship to health, diseases, and aging

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the largest and most ubiquitous latent persistent viruses. Most humans are infected with CMV early in life, and all immunocompetent humans spend several decades living with CMV. In the vast majority of the hosts, CMV does not cause manifest disease, and CMV therefore can be considered part of normal aging for 50–90% of the human population worldwide. Experimental, clinical, and epidemiological studies suggest that CMV carriage can have nuanced outcomes, including both potentially harmful and potentially beneficial impacts on the host. We here present a summary of the 7th International Workshop on CMV and Immunosenescence, covering various aspects of the interplay between CMV and its mammalian hosts in the context of virus spread, immune evasion, antiviral immunity, as well as the impact on health span and aging.