∞ generated and posted on 2016.03.03 ∞
Malady that superficially appears to go away over time but instead persists within a person, potentially becoming reestablished at a later time.
Among infectious diseases, this typically means that the pathogen takes on a reversible, quiescent state.
Herpesviruses, a.k.a., herpes viruses, in particular are notorious for their ability to establish long-term associations with infected cells in which no virus production occurs and during which the virus cannot be detected by the immune system.