Thread by @ZdenekVrozina

COVID was never just a respiratory virus - it’s a systemic one.
A pathogen that rewires immunity, disrupts mitochondria, and infiltrates the nervous system -
sharing striking parallels with HIV.
Here’s part of what we already know🧵

Different viruses, same strategy -
silence interferon
erase MHC-I visibility
crash mitochondria
hijack calcium signaling
The goal? Evade, persist, and reshape the host from within.

SARS2 ORF8 removes MHC-I = CD8 T cells can’t see infected cells.
HIV Nef does the same by rerouting MHC-I for degradation.
Both viruses hide in plain sight
= immune invisibility as a survival tool.

SARS2 Nsp1 shuts down host translation - antiviral mRNAs never leave the nucleus.
It also suppresses p53, blocking the cell’s suicide alarm - a strategy shared with oncoviruses like HPV and EBV.
HIV Vpr manipulates the same p53/ATR axis, silencing defense at its core.

E and ORF3a form Ca2+ = leaking viroporins - trigger NLRP3 inflammasome, pyroptosis.
HIV Vpu/Vpr act the same way.
= microvascular inflammation, microclots, and silent hypoxia.

Brain.
SARS2 Mpro cleaves TDP-43, causing aggregation (ALS/FTD-like). HIV Tat/Vpr damage mitochondria & synapses.
MRI & PET show frontal and temporal atrophy, gray-matter loss in the orbitofrontal and olfactory cortex.
HIV Tat/Vpr cause similar cortical thinning.
= cognitive fog, neuropathy, neurodegeneration - the silent epidemic. Not just inflammation - progressive neurodegeneration.

SARS2 also produces viral microRNAs that silence neuronal genes - mirroring HIV Tat-miR.
= tiny RNAs that keep host neurons quiet long after the infection ends.

SARS2 ORF6 is directly neurotoxic - it blocks nuclear pores (Nup98/Rae1), silencing antiviral genes and triggering mitochondrial apoptosis.
Like HIV Tat, it kills neurons outright.
Same endpoint, different entry route.

Heart.
SARS2 ORF3a/E - Ca overload & cell death.
HIV Vpr/Nef - mitochondrial failure in cardiomyocytes.
=myocarditis, arrhythmia, autonomic dysfunction.

Spike can directly injure cardiomyocytes - binding ACE2 & TLR4, causing Ca overload, mitochondrial stress, and apoptosis.
That mirrors HIV Tat / Vpr, which trigger the same oxidative collapse.
= direct viral cardiotoxicity.

Lungs.
SARS2 S, Nsp1, Nsp3 suppress IFN & destroy alveolar cells.
HIV Vpu/Vif do the same in macrophages.
= chronic alveolar inflammation, impaired antiviral defense.

SARS2 Nsp6 blocks autophagy - preventing cells from clearing damaged mitochondria.
HIV Nef does the same.
= lingering oxidative stress and delayed tissue repair.

Vessels.
SARS2 E, ORF3a, PLpro = inflammasome + endothelialitis.
HIV Nef/Vpu - oxidative stress, apoptosis.
= microangiopathy, vasculitis, mitochondrial exhaustion.

SARS2 PLpro removes ISG15 from antiviral proteins - stealth the virus shares with HIV Vif.
= weakened endothelial defense and prolonged inflammation.
Capillaries are where both viruses leave their deepest mark. SARS2 damages endothelium and pericytes - shrinking the microvascular network itself.
HIV does the same.
The smallest vessels define the largest consequences.
The same capillary collapse appears in bone.
Microthrombi and endothelial loss in the femoral head - avascular necrosis after COVID.
HIV-associated microangiopathy shows the same hip pattern.

Peripheral nerves.
SARS2 Spike, Mpro, ORF6 = Ca2+ imbalance, axonal inflammation.
HIV gp120, Tat, Vpr - Schwann-cell injury.
= neuropathy, POTS, dysautonomia - a neuro-AIDS without HIV.

Small-fiber loss after COVID mirrors HIV distal neuropathy -
sensory decline, burning pain, autonomic imbalance.
Both driven by chronic Ca dysregulation & neuroinflammation.

Kidneys.
SARS2 Nsp3, ORF3a = inflammasome, tubular injury.
HIV Nef/Vpr - podocyte loss, renal fibrosis.
= HIVAN-like nephropathy in post-COVID patients.

Immune system:
SARS2 ORF6/8/9b/Nsp1/Nsp3 silence IFN & MHC-I.
HIV Vpr/Vpu/Nef/Vif do the same through different routes.
= viral persistence, EBV reactivation, T-cell exhaustion.

SARS2, like HIV, causes a drop in CD4 T cells -
driven by cytokine-induced apoptosis, mitochondrial stress, and possibly direct infection of lymphocytes.
= low CD4/CD8 ratio, viral reactivations, and functional immunodeficiency.
HIV erases CD4 cells.
SARS2 burns them out.

On a cellular level:
HIV depletes immunity by infection.
SARS-CoV-2 dismantles it by exhaustion, apoptosis, and transcriptional silencing.
Both converge on immune failure.
Different path, same outcome - a chronic state of immune deficiency.

Across organs we see -
microangiopathy
neurodegeneration
mitochondrial collapse
immune exhaustion
This isn’t long COVID.
It’s a multi-organ immune failure syndrome - an AIDS-like state by another name.

Can this process be reversed?
Some immune circuits recover.
But mitochondrial loss, T-cell exhaustion, and chronic antigen exposure can persist - leaving an imprint even in people who recovered.
A form of hidden immune debt.

If mild immune exhaustion remains widespread,
we should see its fingerprints at the population level:
rising secondary infections
faster pathogen spread
reactivation of latent viruses
And emerging epidemiology increasingly points that way.

Maybe post-COVID isn’t the exception.
Maybe it’s the new baseline.
A slow erosion of immune resilience reshaping how societies age
and how other pathogens spread.

If the term AIDS sounds too heavy - give it another name. But do not pretend it isn’t happening. Biology doesn’t care about semantics.
We won’t heal what we refuse to see.