Respiratory illnesses such as Covid and the flu can awaken dormant cancer cells in the body and cause them to spread, scientists have warned. Researchers found when mice were exposed to Covid or influenza, dormant cancer cells woke up and spread rapidly.

Scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Utrecht University, conducted a research study about the impact of respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and influenza on mice with dormant breast cancer cells.