Abstract

Long-term cycles in healthcare costs, medical admissions, hospital bed occupancy coupled with periods of increased deaths can be discerned in western health care systems for which there has never been an adequate explanation. A new type of immune-based infectious outbreak, operating via one of the many ubiquitous and persistent viruses appears to be occurring. Given the general difficulty of reaching a definitive diagnosis in the largely elderly population presenting to both primary and secondary care in western countries has led to these outbreaks remaining largely unrecognised. It is tentatively proposed that the ubiquitous herpes virus Cytomegalovirus (CMV) could be implicated in the observed long-term patterns of deaths, hospitalisation and wider costs.

Keywords: Immune impairment; Infectious outbreak; Cytomegalovirus; Aged populations; Death; Vague symptoms