Trainor-Moss, Santiago, Acquah, Rebecca Ruth, Peirse, Mary et al. · BMJ case reports · 2022 · DOI
This report describes one patient who developed a serious kidney infection caused by bacteria from a dog bite. After treatment with antibiotics, the patient recovered from the acute infection but then developed lasting fatigue symptoms similar to ME/CFS that persisted after the infection cleared.
This case is relevant to ME/CFS research because it documents the development of chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms following a serious bacterial infection, illustrating a potential infection-triggered pathway to post-viral/post-infectious fatigue conditions. The report highlights the importance of detailed exposure histories in sepsis workup and demonstrates that post-infection chronic fatigue can occur even in previously healthy individuals.
This single case report cannot establish causality between C. canimorsus infection and ME/CFS development, nor can it determine what proportion of such infections lead to chronic fatigue. It does not prove that dog bite-related infections are a common cause of ME/CFS, nor does it identify the specific mechanisms by which the infection triggered fatigue symptoms.
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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