The paper states:
"Participants reporting an infection at onset were more likely to have had ME/CFS symptoms for over 10y than those reporting no infection at onset (66.8% [n=7,246] vs. 45.1% [n=1,183]). This is despite their similar ages (medians 54y [IQR=43y–64y] and 52y [IQR=41y–62y], respectively). The statistical significance of this difference is strong. When testing for association between those with an infection around the time of ME/CFS onset and duration (<10y vs. >10 years since time of onset), age and sex, only association with duration was significant (p = 4×10-67). This relative paucity of participants not reporting an infection around the time of onset of their ME/CFS over 10y ago is unexpected, and not easily explained by historic variation in ME/CFS triggers because association with age was not significant in this analysis (p > 0.05)."
Does anyone have a plausible explanation for this? Might it point to more ME/CFS-outbreaks in the past (more than 10 years ago) than in recent years?