Overview of Conference on Viruses in CFS

Welcome to a special edition of Phoenix Rising. In this
edition we cover the first conference ever devoted specifically to viruses in chronic
fatigue syndrome (ME/ CFS ): the Symposium on
Viruses in CFS . The Symposium took place
directly after the International HHV-6 Conference in Baltimore ,
Md. in May of this year. It featured a
who-who's lineup of speakers in CFS research
including Dr. Montoya, Dr. Kerr, Dr. Klimas, Dr. Vernon, Dr. Lloyd, Dr.
Peterson, Dr. Chia, Dr. De Meirleir and others.

ME/ CFS patients also turned out in force. By
the time the 'Symposium' was underway the room was as full as it ever was
during the three day HHV-6 'Conference'. Dr. Vollmer-Conna marvelled at all the
patients present stating she'd never seen anything like it at a scientific
conference.

The infectious side of the research community may be the most innovative and
creative of all. During the conference we got introduced to intriguing
questions such as

Is a difficult to detect central nervous infection responsible for the mood
disorders in ME/ CFS ?

Could an endogenous retrovirus residing in ME/ CFS
patients DNA somehow have sprung to life?

Could a smoldering infection in the heart be causing the fatigue in ME/ CFS ?

Is there a distinct neuro-immune fatigue subset in this disease?

Are we close to finding an immune biomarker for this disease?

Has the Dubbo team figured out what happens as people come down with ME/ CFS during an infection?

How well do antiviral drugs work and what kinds of drugs are in the pipeline?

Are entire networks of cells acting strangely in ME/ CFS ?


The overview of the conference comes in two parts.

Part I  http://phoenix-cfs.org/ ConHHV6PtI.html  

Part II http://phoenix-cfs.org/ ConHHV6PtII.html