For anyone interested there is a good interview here covering different aspects of the condition with Dr. Marshall who with a team scientists are looking at ME/CFS but also other conditions with potentially similar underlying pathology,

http://phoenixrising.me/archives/13315

Maybe Charis you might also take a look for some perspective or even contact Dr. Marshall for a story which we rarely see in this country, other than brief misinformed headline articles like this. Notice how other news agencies reported it properly by any chance? Without making ridiculous sweeping generalizations.

Alter et al 2012 did not prove that myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, is not an infectious disease, only that two specific viruses are not associated. Although consistent with their long-time hypotheses, the conclusions of Drs. Hickie and Lloyd are not universal among ME and CFS researchers.

In 2011 a paper by active CFS researchers (Shin et al) stated that XMRV was not associated with CFS, however they concluded saying, " It is also vital to state that there is still a wealth of earlier data (2, 10) to encourage further research into the involvement of other infectious agents in CFS, and these efforts must continue." And as neurologist Dr. Ian Lipkin stated there is additional research being done in that area.

Dr. Jay Levy (co-discover of HIV) and Dr. Daniel Peterson stated in a editorial in the Los Angeles Times, "The current consensus is that chronic fatigue syndrome is probably caused by a disturbance to the immune system." They then went on to say, " Scientists have speculated that the chain of events that leads to this prolonged immune disorder begins when someone is exposed to a triggering agent -- a toxic chemical, for instance, or a bacterial or viral infection. But identifying such an agent has proved difficult.

One complication has been that by the time someone develops symptoms and seeks treatment, the underlying infection is no longer detectable, so there is no longer a way to identify the causative agent from blood tests.

To complicate things even more, the over-responsive immune systems of people with chronic fatigue syndrome can activate co-infections, including Epstein-Barr virus, CMV and HHV-6, which make it even more difficult to identify the initial trigger."

There is also evidence that CFS is a neurological disease as suggested by Drs. Hickie and Lloyd. In a 2011 proteomics study, (Schutzer et al) found that in the spinal fluid of CFS patients there are proteins implicated in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, supporting the idea that CFS has an underlying neurological cause. The World Health Organization internationally classifies ME, as well as CFS and post viral fatigue syndrome, under other diseases of the brain in G93.3.

It is correct to report that there is no evidence of a link between XMRV and ME/CFS. It is quite incorrect to report that "there’s no evidence of an infectious cause behind the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)".

For a start, as the Dubbo study by Llloyd showed, 10% of those who got a range of infections went on to get CFS. Clearly, infections are causal in the onset of CFS.

Furthermore, there have been many studies that show high rates of ongoing infections by various viruses in ME/CFS (see the studies by Lerner, Montoya etc). For example, Drs Chia have found strong evidence of enterovisus infections of the stomach in ME sufferers. In their 2007 study, they found 80% of ME patients were infected but only 20% of non-ME patients were infected by the stomach enterovisuses (http://jcp.bmj.com/content/61/1/43.short), and the severity of illness was positively correlated with the degree of infection. In their 2010 study they showed that after various acute infections, enteroviruses can persist in patients resulting in manifestation of ME/CFS (http://jcp.bmj.com/content/63/2/165.short).

Viruses may be responsible for the ongoing disability of ME after all, let us keep an open mind about it! Isn't that the scientific thing to do?

Note to Hickey and Lloyd: you won't find any ongoing infections in ME/CFS if you don't look in the right places. You definitely won't find infections if you refuse to look for them at all. Thankfully there are practically minded researchers out there who are not telling sufferers to wait 10 years for answers. For example, Norwegian researchers have recently seen remarkable results using the drug Rituximab to suppresses B lymphocytes in CFS (their latest press release: http://www.presskontakt.se/pressreleaser/visa/pressrelease/527133/cancermedicin-hjalper/E05BA5B2-D167-40CC-6D0F-C05F026C2DB2).

This is a list of 170(!) peer reviewed articles that significantly show that ME/CFS is a somatic disease: http://mecfs.wikkii.com/wiki/File:Pubmed_MECFS_review.pdf

Please show me at least ONE that in any *significant* and *objective* way shows a psychiatric etiology that haven't been shot to pieces.

The focus has in no way shifted to where these people think or tries to make it look like. XMRV was just one of a thousand possible causes to ME/CFS, to based on that would be like saying that HIV is psychological because it isn't caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis.

They are just after grant money, like they've always been.
I actually can't believe that they still have their medical licenses after all these years after all the patients they have done so much harm.

Saying the Americans have come back to where they started is absolutely correct. 30 years ago, doctors found chronic fatigue syndromes common after bad bouts of mono. The CDC did a study, and discounted the link: active epstein bar did not cause CFS. They failed to understand that it was not active infection that caused it, but a hit and run.

Of course, I personally knew this, as well as most CFS patients after mono. I got mono 10 years ago, then felt fatigued since, though the fatigue has improved. All this hopla about active viral infection and CFS could have been prevented simply by asking a post viral fatigue patient. They, like myself, could have explained that it was a hit and run. Now, look at he brain. Careful patient anecdotal evidence can be more powerful than decades of research.