The Fukuda criteria are used for identifying cases of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) for research purposes. They are also known as the CDC 1994 criteria as they were developed in conjunction with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1994. Although the CDC has now adopted newer criteria, the Fukuda criteria are […]
NB: When considering information concerning groups of people with ME/CFS and those with long COVID, it is important to remember that ME/CFS is a symptom-based clinical diagnosis not a mechanistic one. It is clear there is a high degree of shared pathophysiology between ME/CFS and long COVID, and the two diagnostic labels are not mutually […]
To gain a more detailed understanding of the link between Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) — which causes glandular fever, also known as Infectious Mononucleosis or ‘mono’ — and ME/CFS, Professor Leonard Jason and colleagues have published a study that follows a group of college students — a population in which EBV infection is common — over a 7-year period. The research team concluded that […]
Key points Introduction International Women’s Day (IWD) is both a call to accelerate progress toward gender equality and a moment to highlight discrimination based on sex, and its consequences. In 2025, Professor Chris Ponting, lead of the DecodeME study and an ME Research UK-funded researcher, stated that ME/CFS research has been delayed due to “medical misogyny” — systemic prejudice […]
A paper, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, has emphasised the challenges relating to heterogeneity (how a disease can differ from person to person, and between subgroups of the population) in ME/CFS research. One way to manage heterogeneity in studies is to consider factors such as age, sex, disease severity, duration of disease, […]
A recent study analysed over 800 blood samples from 40 females with ME/CFS compared to 16 healthy controls. The study primarily examined differences in antibodies to human herpesvirus proteins, and it found that participants with ME/CFS exhibited significantly altered antibody levels (indicating viral reactivation) compared to controls. Study Caveats Important considerations to be noted: Study […]
Key points Background Based on the results of a small, ‘proof of concept’– early phase, or exploratory – study, a team of researchers from the University of East Anglia, led by Dr Dimitri Pchejetski, say they have developed a blood test which can differentiate between people have ME/CFS and heathy controls with 96% accuracy. Why […]
The Holmes definition, published in 1988 for “research purposes,” is also known as the CDC 1988 criteria. It was the first official definition of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) used by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC later adopted the 1994 Fukuda criteria for CFS then the 2015 IOM criteria for […]
A recent study highlighted that the clinical presentation of long COVID is heterogenous (highly varied), spanning multiple organ systems, and in some cases strongly resembles ME/CFS. This overlap is not surprising, as many people with long COVID meet diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS, and the two diagnoses can co-exist, since both are currently symptom-based. “With no […]
Research by Professor Jason and colleagues has found that the way questions are asked in ME/CFS research can influence the responses given by participants. The team concluded that these altered responses to study questions may unintentionally reinforce erroneous assumptions that the ME/CFS is psychological in nature (psychosomatic). The study, which included 2,248 people with […]
