The Symposium on Viruses in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - An Overview

[Guest guest]

Welcome to a special edition of Phoenix Rising. In this edition we cover

the first conference ever devoted specifically to viruses in chronic

fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): the Symposium on Viruses in CFS. The

Symposium took place directly after the International HHV-6 Conference

in Baltimore, Md. in May of this year. It featured a who-who's lineup of

speakers in CFS research including Dr. Montoya, Dr. Kerr, Dr. Klimas,

Dr. Vernon, Dr. Lloyd, Dr. , Dr. Chia, Dr. De Meirleir and

others.

ME/CFS patients also turned out in force. By the time the 'Symposium'

was underway the room was as full as it ever was during the three day

HHV-6 'Conference'. Dr. Vollmer-Conna marvelled at all the patients

present stating she'd never seen anything like it at a scientific

conference.

The infectious side of the research community may be the most innovative

and creative of all. During the conference we got introduced to

intriguing questions such as

Is a difficult to detect central nervous infection responsible for the

mood disorders in ME/CFS?

Could an endogenous retrovirus residing in ME/CFS patients DNA somehow

have sprung to life?

Could a smoldering infection in the heart be causing the fatigue in

ME/CFS?

Is there a distinct neuro-immune fatigue subset in this disease?

Are we close to finding an immune biomarker for this disease?

Has the Dubbo team figured out what happens as people come down with

ME/CFS during an infection?

How well do antiviral drugs work and what kinds of drugs are in the

pipeline?

Are entire networks of cells acting strangely in ME/CFS?

The overview of the conference comes in two parts.

Part I http://phoenix-cfs.org/ConHHV6PtI.html

<http://phoenix-cfs.org/ConHHV6PtI.html>

Part II http://phoenix-cfs.org/ConHHV6PtII.html

<http://phoenix-cfs.org/ConHHV6PtII.html>

Next up an interview with Dr. Chia