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Traces of a retrovirus similar to HIV are found in most patients with this mysterious disorder – chronic fatigue syndrome. It could be an opportunistic virus, but researchers want further testing to see if it actually causes the syndrome.

In what may prove to be the first significant major breakthrough in the fight against chronic fatigue syndrome, researchers reported on Thursday that they had found traces of a virus in the vast majority of affected patients. This same virus has previously been identified in at least a quarter of prostate tumors, particularly those that are very aggressive, and has also been linked to certain types of cancers of the blood.

It remains possible that the virus, known as xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV, is a so-called passenger virus that is simply infecting patients whose immune systems have been suppressed by other causes. But the new findings were sufficiently alarming that the National Cancer Institute called together a group of experts in August to consider its potential effect on public health.

“We are in the very early days,” said Stuart Le Grice, director of the National Cancer Institute’s Center of Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Cancer Virology, who organized the meeting but was not involved in the new study. “The data need to be confirmed and repeated. . . . We need to know that it is a cause and not just a passenger. In a sense, we are at the same stage as we were when HIV was first discovered. Hopefully, we can take advantage of what we learned from working with it.”

Le Grice emphasized, however, that traces of the virus had been found in blood samples preserved for 25 years. “This is not associated with a new and spreading disease. We are not on the verge of an epidemic,” he said.

Chronic fatigue syndrome, which affects at least 1 million Americans and more than 17 million people worldwide, is characterized by debilitating fatigue, chronic pain and depression, as well as other symptoms. Many doctors have argued that it is not a real disorder because there have previously been no biochemical markers that characterize it. The only effective treatments are behavioral changes and antidepressants, and they are of limited benefit. » Continue reading Virus discovery called breakthrough in fight against chronic fatigue syndrome »