Media Advisory
Monday January 13, 2025
What
New findings from the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery initiative (RECOVER) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggest that infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may be associated with an increase in cases of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). According to the results, 4.5% of post-COVID-19 participants met the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS, compared with 0.6% of participants who had not been infected with SARS-CoV-2. RECOVER is the NIH’s national program to understand, diagnose, prevent, and treat long COVID.
The research team, led by Suzanne D. Vernon, Ph.D., of the Bateman Horne Center in Salt Lake City, looked at adults participating in the RECOVER adult cohort study to see how many of them met the IOM clinical diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS at least six months after their infection. The analysis included 11,785 participants who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and 1,439 participants who had not been infected with the virus. The results are published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
ME/CFS is a complex, serious, chronic illness that often occurs after an infection. ME/CFS is characterized by new-onset fatigue that has persisted for at least six months and is accompanied by a reduction in pre-illness activities; post-exertional malaise, which is a worsening of symptoms after physical or mental activity; and non-restorative sleep and cognitive impairment or orthostatic intolerance, which is dizziness upon standing. People with long COVID also have some or all of these symptoms.
Long COVID is a chronic illness associated with infection that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and is present for at least three months as an ongoing, relapsing and remitting, or progressive, disease state that affects one or more organ systems. People with long COVID report a variety of symptoms, including fatigue, pain, and cognitive difficulties.
Dr. Vernon and his team determined that the incidence of new ME/CFS cases was 15 times higher than pre-pandemic levels.
These results provide further evidence that infections, including those caused by SARS-CoV-2, can lead to ME/CFS.
Post-exertional malaise, orthostatic intolerance, and cognitive impairment were the most commonly reported ME/CFS symptoms among participants in the infected group.
Limitations of this study include the reliance on self-reported symptoms, the exclusion of RECOVER participants who had been hospitalized, and the sporadic nature of ME/CFS symptoms.
Further research is needed to understand the biological mechanisms behind why some people are more likely to develop ME/CFS after infection than others. Advancing knowledge about how the SARS-CoV-2 virus can cause ME/CFS could help uncover potential treatments for a range of chronic diseases associated with infections.
The study was funded by the NIH (OT2HL161841, OT2HL161847, and OT2HL156812).
Who
Dr. Walter Koroshetz, Director of NINDS, is available for interviews. To arrange an interview, please contact NINDSpressteam@ninds.nih.gov
Article
SD Vernon et al., Incidence and prevalence of post-COVID-19 myalgic encephalomyelitis: a report from the RECOVER-Adult observational study, Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2025.
About the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS): The NINDS is the nation's largest funder of brain and nervous system research. NINDS's mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use this knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, comprises 27 institutes and centers and is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency that conducts and supports basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and studies the causes, treatments, and cures for common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIH…Transforming Discovery into Health®
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