Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Support Group
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) describes a sense of exhaustion and post-exertion malaise, even when you have gotten enough rest and sleep. The disease is characterized by six months of incapacitating fatigue experienced as profound exhaustion and extremely poor stamina, and problems with concentration and short-term memory. The cause is unknown, but it is a...
There have been many outbreaks of ME/CFS around the world, or clusters of cases if you prefer calling them that.
There have been several in Florida, one really big one in Punta Gorda in the 1950's and another in the Miami area in the 1960's. I was part of the 1960's Miami outbreak, the doctor at Jackson Memorial Hospital said they were calling the cluster of cases "a glandular form of mononucleosis". The patients had the symptoms of mono, but tested negative for it on the blood work.
I had a low fever for weeks and I was never the same after that. Whether I had ME/CFS before that, there's no way to know. I used to get gastrointestinal illness regularly, for one thing...and my body did not respond to exercise the way it should have.
There have been several in Florida, one really big one in Punta Gorda in the 1950's and another in the Miami area in the 1960's. I was part of the 1960's Miami outbreak, the doctor at Jackson Memorial Hospital said they were calling the cluster of cases "a glandular form of mononucleosis". The patients had the symptoms of mono, but tested negative for it on the blood work.
I had a low fever for weeks and I was never the same after that. Whether I had ME/CFS before that, there's no way to know. I used to get gastrointestinal illness regularly, for one thing...and my body did not respond to exercise the way it should have.
There's also the book "Disease of a Thousand Names" about all the isolated outbreaks all over the world which simply took on the name of the place where it occurred & nobody ever linked them together. Is anybody really waching even now? The science is so much better & they have so many more tools, but are they monitoring & keeping track anywhere?
I just read a NY Times long article about the cholera epidemic in Haiti after the earthquake. The UN contingent from Nepal obviously was the cause, but nobody wanted to take responsibility for tens of thousands of deaths. So they kept passing the buck.