In 2003, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) spread from southeast Asia to North America causing a public health panic and many deaths. Fever, cough, muscle pain and air hunger were the primary presenting symptoms, and many people who did not die from the acute infection failed to recover. There has been little long-term follow-up of post-SARS cases. Moldofsky and Patcai compared 21 health care workers who had documented SARS and were not well enough to return to work 1-3 years later to 7 healthy females and 21 females who met the Fibromyalgia criteria.
They found that the chronic post-SARS syndrome shares clinical and sleep features with CFS and FM. A longer term, large scale study is needed to establish the contribution of epidemic and pandemic viral disease to the disordered sleep, chronic fatigue and other symptoms of CFS/FM.
For more information, click the link below to read the study.
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