Schlech, W F · Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 1995 · DOI
This study surveyed Canadian infectious disease doctors in 1990 to see what kinds of infections they were treating. The researchers found that bacterial infections were more common in hospitalized patients, while viral infections were more common in office visits. Interestingly, the survey included mentions of chronic fatigue syndrome alongside other infectious diseases, suggesting doctors were considering it in their practice at that time.
This study provides historical documentation that chronic fatigue syndrome was recognized by infectious disease specialists in the early 1990s as a clinically relevant condition worthy of consultation. For ME/CFS patients and researchers, it offers evidence that the condition was being evaluated within infectious disease medicine during a period when its etiology remained uncertain, supporting the legitimacy of investigating potential infectious triggers.
This study does not establish that chronic fatigue syndrome is caused by an infectious agent, nor does it provide data on diagnostic criteria, patient outcomes, or treatment efficacy. The one-week snapshot provides only prevalence data from consultations, not comprehensive epidemiology, and does not clarify what proportion of CFS cases had identified infectious triggers versus unknown causes.
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 →
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