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Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) establishes persistent, usually asymptomatic, infection in healthy people. Because CMV infection is associated with the presence of lower proportions of peripheral naïve CD8⁺ T-cells and a higher fraction of late-differentiated CD8⁺ cells, commonly taken as biomarkers of age-associated compromised adaptive immunity (‘immunosenescence’), we asked whether chronic exposure to any persistent virus mediates these effects. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is also a widespread herpesvirus that establishes lifelong persistence, but, unlike CMV, its impact on the distribution of T-cell subsets has not been established. Here, we analysed T-cell subsets in 93 healthy people aged 42–81 years infected or not infected with CMV and/or HSV. Individuals harbouring CMV were confirmed to possess lower frequencies of naïve CD8⁺ T-cells (defined as CD45RA⁺CCR7⁺CD27⁺CD28⁺) and greater …