Josević, M, Nikolić, S, Dulović, O et al. · Srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo · 1996
This study looked at how Lyme disease can affect the nervous system, a condition called neuroborreliosis. Researchers reviewed 11 patients treated for Lyme disease and found that it can cause various nerve problems including meningitis, facial paralysis, nerve inflammation, and fatigue syndrome. The study helps explain how widely Lyme disease can spread throughout the body and what symptoms patients might experience.
This study is relevant to ME/CFS research because it documents how an infectious agent (Borrelia burgdorferi) can trigger prolonged neurological symptoms including fatigue syndrome, demonstrating one potential infectious pathway to post-infection illness. Understanding neuroborreliosis manifestations may inform investigations into whether similar infectious and post-infectious mechanisms contribute to ME/CFS pathogenesis.
This study does not establish a causal link between Lyme disease and ME/CFS, nor does it prove that chronic fatigue syndrome cases observed were truly post-Lyme sequelae versus coincidental comorbidity. The small sample size and observational design prevent generalization of findings to broader populations, and without serological or molecular confirmation details, diagnostic accuracy cannot be independently verified.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
Spotted an error in this entry? Report it →