A recent Wall Street Journal commentary by Yale immunologist Akiko Iwasaki and cardiologist Harlan Krumholz highlights how immune dysfunction following infection may drive a spectrum of chronic diseases—including long COVID, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and post-treatment Lyme disease.
The authors call for advanced diagnostics that can map persistent immune responses and uncover mechanistic drivers of post-infectious disease. This aligns closely with the aim of ViraxImmune™, a novel immune profiling assay currently in development. Designed to quantify immune exhaustion and cellular dysfunction, ViraxImmune™ provides a quantitative readout of T cell function—offering data to support clinical decision-making and research stratification.
Post-acute infection syndromes (PAIS) are debilitating conditions that persist long after the initial infection. While symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, and chronic pain are common among these conditions, the underlying biology is complex. Increasingly, PAIS are being linked to persistent immune activation, T cell exhaustion, and imbalances in cell signaling (cytokine) profiles, which disturb normal immune function and lead to chronic inflammation.
Despite global research funding, including NIH’s RECOVER Initiative and UKRI’s long COVID funding stream, no validated diagnostic currently exists to stratify patients or confirm ongoing immune dysfunction—slowing progress in both clinical management and therapeutic trials.
According to recent estimates published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, the economic impact of long COVID in the U.S. exceeds $3.7 trillion, driven by lost productivity, direct healthcare costs, and long-term disability.1
New diagnostic tools could ease this burden by enabling faster, more accurate identification of affected individuals—reducing unnecessary treatments, disability timelines, and uncertainty for both patients and providers.
ViraxImmune™ directly assesses immune health by measuring cytokines secreted from activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)—a diverse population of immune cells, including T cells, B cells, NK cells, and monocytes, critical for host defense. Unlike symptom-based questionnaires or antibody tests, this approach provides an objective evaluation of immune dysfunction, including T cell exhaustion, commonly observed in post-acute infection syndromes.
The ViraxImmune™ platform integrates the latest, innovative methods with tried and tested FluoroSpot technology to produce clear, easy-to-interpret immune dysfunction scores. This reduces subjectivity, supports consistent monitoring over time, and enhances patient stratification in clinical trials. Clinicians can then make more informed decisions regarding diagnosis, ongoing monitoring, and long-term care planning.
Currently undergoing clinical evaluation, ViraxImmune™ represents a promising advancement in diagnostics for immune-related chronic illnesses.
There’s a growing consensus that many chronic diseases may start in the immune system. That idea, once considered fringe, is now supported by major studies.
Our efforts reflect this paradigm shift—from viewing these illnesses as psychosomatic or idiopathic to understanding them as immune-mediated disorders.
Virax Biolabs remains committed to advancing immune profiling technologies, such as ViraxImmune™, through rigorous research and clinical validation. As attention turns toward the long-term impacts of chronic illnesses, diagnostics like ours could contribute to earlier detection, more personalized care, and more efficient clinical trial design.
