A new study that is part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative found an association between SARS-CoV-2 and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) cases.
The results were published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
The researchers were led by Suzanne D. Vernon, Ph.D., from the Bateman Horne Center in Salt Lake City. They found that “4.5% post-COVID-19 participants met ME/CFS diagnostic criteria, compared to 0.6% participants that had not been infected by SARS-CoV-2 virus,” according to NIH’s press release. This means that COVID-19 could be connected with the increase in ME/CFS cases.
Over 13,000 adults participated in the study. 11,785 had a SARS-CoV-2 infection and 1,439 had not. The researchers wanted “to see how many met the IOM clinical diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS at least six months after their infection.”
According to the findings, “new incidence cases of ME/CFS were 15 times higher than pre-pandemic levels.”
Of the infected participants, most reported having post-exertional malaise, orthostatic intolerance, and cognitive impairment.
