Why has ME/CFS Research Stalled for Four Decades?

The troubled history of scientific ineptitude and patient suffering—AMERICA’S BIGGEST COVER-UP: Chapters Three & Four

 In 1988, I began covering the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic—now referred to as ME/CFS in government documents and elsewhere—weekly at the New York Native newspaper. In 1992, I drew upon those weekly columns to write a book—America’s Biggest Cover-Up: 50 More Things Everyone Should Know About The Chronic Fatigue Syn­drome Epidemic And Its Link To AIDS. It was published by TNM, Inc., the owner of the New York Native, as well as St. Martin’s Press in New York; in Japanese by Shindan-to-Chiryo, and in French by Les Editions Logique.
          Fast forward to 2021, when I learned that the British medical journal Healthcare had published a special edition devoted to severe and very severe ME/CFS. I was stunned by how little progress had been made in the preceding 29 years.
          The 2022 Kindle edition of America’s Biggest Cover-Up: 50 More Things Everyone Should Know About The Chronic Fatigue Syn­drome Epidemic And Its Link To AIDS, Updated 2^nd Edition contained not only the text of the original manuscript but also a new introduction. Each week (or so), I will publish a new chapter or section for the paid subscribers to The Real AIDS Epidemic.
          This is the fourth of those sections.

Chapter Three

HHV-6 Kills an Important Immune System Cell in AIDS and CFS Patients

Human Herpes Virus 6 (HHV-6) was first discovered in people with damaged immune systems who had cancer or AIDS. However, when studies showed that the virus seemed to infect about 90 percent of the world’s population by age three, HHV-6 was generally portrayed by scientists as a fairly harmless virus.