NEW Source, Issue 7, March 1992 Page: 1
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NEW .urce
': ~March 1992
Issue 7All contents copyrighted (c)1992 by NEWSoumn
New CFS Study Accuses HHV-6
by Matt EarnestA recent Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
study names HHV-6 (human herpes virus-6) as the
culprit of the disorder. The study was led by Dr.
Anthony L. Komaroff, a researcher at Harvard
Medical School and Brigham & Women's Hospital in
Boston. Komaroff, et al, sought to examine the mid-
1980s outbreak of CFS in Incline Village, Nevada
which first brought the confusing disease to light.
259 cases were studied, and the results
showed distinct physiological differences between the
CFS patients and a healthy control group. Brain scans
revealed inflammation in 78% of the patients and in
21% of the control group. An active form of HHV-6
was detected in 70% of the patients and in 20% of the
controls.
Ever since it was first diagnosed, CFS has been
a magnet for controversy. Many doctors still refuse to
acknowledge that CFS even exists; they give it
condescending names like "the yuppie plague". Dr.
Komaroff hopes that the new findings will convince
even the hardest of these hardnosed physicians. "The
results clearly establish that in this group of people
there was a measurable physical [condition] that was
underpinning their systems," Komaroff said.
Nearly everyone is exposed to HHV-6 early in
life from contact with relatives, and it effects people in
a variety of ways, Le. rash, roseola, fever, and
mononucleosis. "Most people exposed to the virus
never get anything," said Komaroff. "The body
contains it and it remains dormant." Apparentlythough, it can cause "subtle immune deficiency" when
reawakened, the opportunity for CFS to take over.
It is the fact that the majority of people are ex-
posed to the virus that leads Dr. Komaroff to believe
that HHV-6 is not the direct cause of CFS. He believes
that CFS could be brought on by several things, rang-
ing from allergies to environmental factors. One thing
is sure: after his study, CFS cannot logically be called
an imagined illness any longer.
REFERENCES:
1. Winslow, Ron. "Chronic Fatigue Study Points To Herpes Virus";
The Wall Street Journal, January 15, 1992.
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Dallas Buyer's Club. NEW Source, Issue 7, March 1992, periodical, March 1992; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc271483/m1/1/: accessed June 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.