Thaindian News

August 24, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Scientists have uncovered traces of a mouse related virus in almost 86% of patients suffering from the chronic fatigue syndrome. The discovery is likely to spike controversy on XMRV yet again.

The scientists had said that the Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus has been found in patients suffering from symptoms of chronic fatigue. However, three later studies failed to detect any signs of the virus. Now the scientists have again stated that they found the virus within the blood samples of CFS patients with both the stored as well as fresh samples bearing evidence to it.

CFS weakens the patient and is diagnosed on factors which are purely clinical. There is no specific test for the syndrome but the patients who suffer from CFS are often exhausted to such an extent that they cannot work at all.

Dr. Harvey Alter who is the chief of clinical studies at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center said that there is indeed a dramatic association between XMRV and the patients suffering from chronic fatigue. He was speaking at a news conference. The study report along with its findings was published in the ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ which was seen online before the print version came out. However, the problem seems to lie in explaining why the results vary with some laboratories finding evidence while the others do not.

Steve Monroe, who is also the co author of the paper said that there are a lot of things that need to be found out before a concrete conclusion about the virus can be drawn.

Research into the characteristics of the virus is now being sponsored by the Government. The studies will strive to find out whether the virus can be found in most CFS patients, whether it is possible to create an antibody to combat it and whether it is possible to develop a specific standardized test for diagnosing it.