Found this on another forum. If this turns out to be correct , my view is that this can be applied to many other viruses (esp. the herpes family) and it may be just a bit of time and work.
http://www.naturalhealthadvisory.com/daily/fatigue-lack-of-energy/first-ever-test-for-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-symptoms-is-close/
Great find, Clive - this is very interesting.
I recommend reading the whole thing but here's an excerpt:
Unusual “partial reactivation” of virus causes chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms in some
However, there seems to be something different about the latent Epstein-Barr virus reactivation in some patients with CFS. The virologists had previously identified a group of patients with classic chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms that responded very well to treatment with antiviral medication. By comparing these patients to CFS patients who didn’t respond to antiviral medication, the researchers found that the CFS patients who had responded to the antiviral treatment were experiencing an unusual “partial reactivation” of the Epstein-Barr virus.
In this group of CFS patients, a latent Epstein-Barr virus had begun to reactivate, but the newly awakened virus never reached its full potential to take over its host cells. Instead, the group of fatigued patients experienced a partial reactivation that stuck around for an abnormally long time. This partial reactivation was strong enough to trigger the generation at least two viral proteins, called DNA polymerase and dUTPase. The patients produced antibodies specifically designed to identify and neutralize those proteins. Control blood samples from healthy people showed no such antibodies.
Virus triggers inflammation and immune system “chaos” leading to CFS symptoms
Even though the CFS patients with these antibodies don’t show evidence of complete, active, Epstein-Barr re-infections (they tested negative for the most commonly measured active antibodies required to fight the Epstein-Barr virus,) the researchers believe these viral proteins are able to trigger inflammation and chaos within the immune system that leads to debilitating fatigue and other chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms. All patients in whom the antibodies linked to latent Epstein-Barr virus reactivation were detected had experienced classic CFS symptoms that resolved with long-term antiviral treatment.
New panel would identify subgroup of CFS patients with specific Epstein-Barr antibodies
Numerous types of blood tests are available to determine past or present viral infections, but until now none have been found to be useful in helping determine whether someone has CFS or not. In other words, until now no type of virus-related marker in the blood has been found that separates out those with CFS from those without. With their discovery, the investigative team envisions the development of a new antibody panel which could be used to identify the subgroup of CFS patients with elevated levels of these specific antibodies against DNA polymerase and dUTPase. As of now, antibodies to these viral proteins are not part of any current standard panel for past or present Epstein-Barr infections.
Some of the researchers involved the study are part owners of a company that has U.S. patents and pending patents for diagnosis and treatment of CFS based on their discovery of these non-standard antibodies. While this may be a conflict of interest, it is also a new direction which might offer hope to at least some CFS patients.
