Chronically Persistent Infection with Human Cytomegalovirus in Human Lymphoblasts

Abstract

Cells from a line of human lymphocytes originating from a leukemic patient were persistently infected with human cytomegalovirus. Assays of infectious ~enters and fluorescent antigen staining indicated that 1%–10% of the cells were infected, It appears that persistent infection is due to an equilibrium between the release. of virus by infected host cells and the growth of uninfected cells rather than to defective virus or temperature-sensitive mutants.