The growing number of individuals experiencing Long COVID — now estimated to be as high as 1 in 5 adults who have had COVID-19 — has brought greater attention to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The two conditions share many symptoms, but their causes are still unknown. Lucy Hicks of Medscape Medical News spoke with Jennifer Cope, MD, MPH, a medical officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Chronic Viral Diseases Branch, to answer questions on what providers should know about Long COVID and ME/CFS, how to diagnose and treat these conditions, and ongoing areas of research.
Why should healthcare providers care about ME/CFS?
ME/CFS, which stands for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, is a debilitating and complex illness that affects a significant number of people. The estimated prevalence of ME/CFS is between 836,000 and 2.5 million Americans. We do think that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we could start to see increasing numbers of ME/CFS cases.
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