Chronic fatigue syndrome may link to stomach virus

William Atkins
Saturday, 15 September 2007 21:18

Science - Health

According to a U.S. research study published in the "Journal of Clinical Pathology," a majority of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome tested positive for viruses in the gastrointestinal tract.

Dr. John kai-sheng Chia, an infectious disease specialist in California, conducted the study with 165 patients suffering from CFS. He found that over 80% of the specimens taken from these patients contained viral particles in the gastrointestinal tract. Only seven of the 34 specimens from healthy persons contained the viral particles.

According to a 2006 article in the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, about four in one thousands adults in the United States suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, commonly abbreviated CFS. The disorder affects normally healthy persons who suffer from chronic exhaustion and other related symptoms.

Additional information on the study appears at the MedPage Today website containing the article “Stomach Virus Associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”.

The abstract from the original scientific article by John K.S. Chia, entitled “Chronic fatigue syndrome is associated with chronic enterovirus infection of the stomach”, which will be published in the Journal of Clinical Pathology appears at: http://jcp.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/jcp.2007.050054v1.