Coronavirus and ME: doctors fear wave of chronic fatigue syndrome
The little-understood disease CFS/ME is often triggered by viral infections
As the UK’s daily death tolls fall and the immediate threat of Covid-19 recedes, doctors are warning that the outbreak may lead to a long-term surge in cases of a debilitating and untreatable disease.
Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or CFS/ME, is an “illness with a wide range of symptoms”, says the NHS. The most common symptom “is feeling extremely tired and generally unwell”, it adds.
The condition “is usually lifelong and often devastating”, says The Washington Post. “Up to 25% of ME/CFS patients are housebound or bedbound for years.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
While the disease is not well understood, one potential cause is a change in the “immune system and the way it responds to infection”, says the US Centres for Disease Control.
Several viruses are known to trigger it in some of the people they infect. “Clusters of ME/CFS have followed many infectious outbreaks,” says The Atlantic. “In a study of 233 Hong Kong residents who survived the Sars epidemic of 2003, about 40% had chronic-fatigue problems after three years or so.”
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Research published in the British Medical Journal in 2006 found that “a relatively uniform post-infective fatigue syndrome persists in a significant minority of patients for six months or more after clinical infection with several different viral and non-viral micro-organisms”.
Whether Covid-19 has the same long-term effect is not yet known. “ME/CFS is typically diagnosed when symptoms persist for six months or more,” says The Atlantic, “and the new coronavirus has barely been infecting humans for that long.”
However, many people who contracted the new coronavirus have suffered from extreme tiredness and aching muscles for weeks after the virus left their body. “Researchers suspect at least some Covid patients will remain sick and eventually develop post-viral ME/CFS,” The Washington Post reports.
Given the size of the pandemic - the official infection count is approaching ten million - the coronavirus outbreak could leave in its wake a “large population with post-viral problems that could be lifelong and, in some cases, disabling”, the newspaper warns.
However, says The Atlantic, a new wave of cases could produce a silver lining of sorts.
“The symptoms of ME/CFS have long been trivialised; its patients disbelieved; its researchers underfunded,” the magazine reports. “If the pandemic creates a large population of people who have symptoms that are similar to those of ME/CFS, it might trigger research into this and other overlooked diseases.”
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What is cloud seeding and did it cause Dubai's severe rainfall?
The Explainer The future is flooded
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
American Airlines pilots are warning of a 'significant spike' in safety issues
In the Spotlight The pilot's union listed 'problematic trends' they say are affecting the airline's fleet
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
6 star-spangled presidential libraries to visit
The Week Recommends These institutions provide insight into American leaders
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Pros and cons of universal health care
Pros and Cons A medical system that serves everyone comes with its own costs, and they're not only financial
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Covid four years on: have we got over the pandemic?
Today's Big Question Brits suffering from both lockdown nostalgia and collective trauma that refuses to go away
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The hollow classroom
Opinion Remote school let kids down. It will take much more than extra tutoring for kids to recover.
By Mark Gimein Published
-
Martha's Rule: patients given right to urgent second opinion
The Explainer Hospitals in England will launch new scheme that will allow access to a rapid treatment review
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
The contaminated blood scandal
The Explainer Widely regarded as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, the public inquiry is due to publish its report in May
By The Week UK Published
-
Can Britain's dental crisis be fixed?
The Explainer New proposals include more money for dentists working in under-served areas
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Excess screen time is making children only see what is in front of them
Under the radar The future is looking blurry. And very nearsighted.
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Covid-19: what to know about UK's new Juno and Pirola variants
in depth Rapidly spreading new JN.1 strain is 'yet another reminder that the pandemic is far from over'
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published