Corona: The virus can trigger chronic fatigue syndrome
Created: 06/09/2022, 12:00 p.m
By: Judith Brown
If patients feel exhausted for six months or more after a corona infection, they can suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome.
The symptoms of a Covid-19 infection are diverse.
They range from cough and runny nose to fever, sore throat, headache and shortness of breath.
According to experts at the Berlin Charité, a chronic state of exhaustion, known in professional circles as fatigue, can also occur after a corona infection - even if the patient did not have a severe course.
Corona: The virus can trigger chronic fatigue
The coronavirus can trigger chronic fatigue syndrome ME/CFS.
© Antonio Guillen Fernandez/IMAGO
The researchers found in their study, published in the journal
Nature Communications
, that myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a symptom of Covid-19 disease.
To do this, they examined the data of a total of 42 patients, of whom 32 had a mild and ten had a moderate course of pneumonia.
Three people were hospitalized, with none requiring oxygen.
However, even six months after infection, the patients continued to suffer from physical weakness.
This was measured using the so-called "Bell Scale".
It evaluates the general impairment with a point system ranging from 0 to 100.
The higher the score, the less affected people feel.
With a “Bell score” of 20 or less, those affected are usually bedridden.
A score of 30 to 40 means that patients can do light work for two to four hours a day.
Accordingly, 19 patients with fatigue syndrome gave a value of 40.
They were therefore better off than members of a control group who also had ME/CFS after other infections.
The 23 patients who did not meet all criteria for fatigue fared best, with a "Bell score" of 50, which is approximately 70 percent of normal overall activity levels.
This also had a positive effect on their quality of life.
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Corona: signs of fatigue and their causes
In 2003, Health Canada established criteria for determining chronic fatigue.
ME/CFS is characterized by the following symptoms and must partially meet these for a diagnosis:
Crippling fatigue (allows very limited physical activity)
sleep disorders
Muscle aches
Two or more neurological or cognitive symptoms (one symptom must involve either the autonomic nervous system, the neuroendocrine system, or the immune system)
Symptoms must have been present for at least six months
However, the exact causes of chronic fatigue are not known.
It is typical that the patients can remember a previous infection – usually a viral infection – as the trigger.
For example, experts suspect that an ongoing inflammatory response is a cause of ME/CFS.
It is also possible that an autoimmune disease is behind it, in which antibodies attack the body's own structures that should actually neutralize the pathogen.
These viruses and bacteria make us sick
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This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. In no way does it replace a visit to the doctor. Unfortunately, our editors are not allowed to answer individual questions about clinical pictures.
