From infection to chronic illness: Learning from long COVID - article by the American Society for Microbiology

"Since the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 has caused unexplained, chronic, post-infection symptoms in survivors. The phenomenon, known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection or "long COVID," surfaced shortly after COVID-19 testing was introduced to the public, and doctors began noting a pattern of onset of chronic fatigue and dysautonomia in patients who had recovered from acute COVID-19 infection.


Yet, SARS-CoV-2 is not the only pathogen that has been linked to chronic symptoms. While there are known links between bacterial and viral infections with post-acute infection syndromes, much is still unknown about the mechanisms that underpin these illnesses or why they occur.

A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it reignited research interest in this field. How can we better recognize and treat these chronic disabilities? We dive into the research to better understand the relationship between microbe and host, as well as the immunological landscape these pathogens leave behind."

Despite the article mentioning EBV as a prime example for possibly triggering health issues, this is the only time ME/CFS is mentioned:

"Since there is no standardization in diagnosis, post-acute infection syndromes are often dismissed as signs of other, more common, illnesses (chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, etc.) or misinterpreted as cardiac or neurological abnormalities."

Full article: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-infection-chronic-illness-covid.html

 

Incorrect, it preceded availability of tests. In fact it was a huge clusterfuck at first because tests were first unavailable, then in very short supply and contingent on arbitrary criteria, such as travel to China or fever.

Not by much but still, it's just as important to be accurate as getting the timeline that it preceded vaccines correct, just because it's popular to attribute LC to vaccines, all thanks to medicine's ongoing denial, and because a popular argument for a psychosomatic model of LC is based around test vs no test.