Hi Lynn. I'm going to follow on from what you said, however, I am not criticising or correcting you don't worry!
So on the topic of proving XMRV causes illness. A bit of recent history. Simon Wessely and Myra McClure said they wanted to ''protect the public'' by rushing their 0% Negative XMRV study in CFS out, a study that took weeks to make. Not months, but weeks. Looks like they actually damaged the public by being too keen to say the public health disaster joke of the year.
''We are confident that our results show there is no link between XMRV and CFS at least in the UK'' - McClure
''I'm done with this'' - Kuppeveld
''It doesn't explain Childhood Trauma'' - Wessely in a newspaper interview.
I am so glad they said these words, their arrogance and ignorance of science defines them, and for ever in the history books too. How idiotic will someone look by stating 'There is no HIV' and a year later HIV is announced to have been found in very high numbers in sick people? How could anyone conclude the fact there is no XMRV in CFS, when the virus hadn't even been studied yet? Who else has the audacity to conclude in a few weeks they are correct, and the entire scientific community who hasn't even had a go at looking for XMRV, is wrong?
Thankfully, the WPI are full of skilled and honourable people.
Logically what Wessely and McClure didn't read in their 8th grade biology book is
all human exogenous retrovirus cause illness.[/U] (HIV, HTLV), so XMRV should follow, especially if XMRV is suddenly found in persons with CFS, whom 25% are wheelchair or bed bound and the average person has the same disablity level as end stage AIDS, COPD, and heart failure. Knowing this, Wessely and McClure where not only wrong but blind to CFS research that is well known and printed for decades. Politics was the reason for their arrogance, and they sold out, destroying their academic reputation as reputable scientists and psychiatrists. Their choice, not ours. All water under the bridge, and their relevance in XMRV research has gone as it never started.
Wessely & McClure, Reeves, Kuppeveld you are the weakest link, goodbye.
For the sake of argument and scientific methods of calculating evidence we'll use science instead of logic. To parrot Judy Mikovits, all human exogenous retroviruses cause: cancer, immune suppression and neuro disease. Well defined CFS follows these rules, yet we are lead to believe by the CDC that XMRV is not in people wtith CFS as is shown by the new CDC website on CFS. Lets see if that's a true statement by the CDC, or a true statement by Judy Mikovits proposing that XMRV should be no different to causing disease just like the other two exogenous human retroviruses:
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CFS is a neuro disease (when using CFS as a name for ME) and XMRV has been found in CFS at 98%.
1-0. Mikovits. Failblog CDC.
Cancer is raised in CFS (Thyroid and Mantle Cell).
1-0. Mikovits. Worrying for an alleged hysteria treated with CBT....
Cytotoxic NKC in CFS are WORSE than AIDS & NKC function is poor. There's your immune supression.
1-0 Mikovits. Very Interesting and explains a lot.
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So Mikovits 3, CDC, 0.
Actual published Evidence on XMRV in CFS:
XMRV causes illness shown by the % rate that was discovered in the Science paper of CFS people (Fukuda and Canadian Concensus Definition CFS) shown to the public in October 2009. The original SCIENCE cohort when using 4 methods to detect XMRV, found XMRV in 98% of the patients - this was not shown in the original SCIENCE paper - it was 68%. After publishing, the WPI improved their testing methods and found much more XMRV in the same people. In other words, WPI detected XMRV in virtually all of their Fukuda and Canadian Consensus Definition CFS patients. That was certainly an Ohh My Lord moment if there ever was one. Now lets look at XMRV in people without CFS............
98% of SCIENCE cohort CFS patients
Vs
XMRV in just 4% of the healthy population and only 10% of the immune supressed population.
A huge difference.
If XMRV doesn't cause illness, why would the CFS population been (almost) universally infected with XMRV? Another 'mystery' cause? School phobia maybe? Childhood trauma? Addiciton to 'The View' with Whoppi Goldberg?
Near 100% hit rate for an infectious retrovirus with no previous diagnostic test, is a diagnostic marker. Hence the panic at the CDC by bringing out an useless XMRV study that found ZERO percent in people who were diagnosed with tiredness over a telephone.
That was not wise, but they had no option after blaming patients for being 'psycho-neurotic' (Thanks CDC's Dr Strauss). Honesty and saving face, rarely goes together.
Incredible work by the WPI. Lets theoretically downgrade the 98% to 80%. 80% is massive and is still diagnostic. Talking of 80% this is the Alter paper XMRV replication study result whose patients were not diagnosed using the expertease of the WPI who can spot a neuro immune disease patient, vs a 'CFS' criteria patient that is a very poor criteria. Did Alter use all 4 methods the WPI used? Who knows. Increase the expertease of knowing what a neuro immune disease patient actually has in terms of 'signs' (e.g. Cytokine abnormality, Dysautonomia, etc) and logically the % rate increases.
Mike Hillerby, Vice President of the WPI said on the radio that WPI (Or did he mean VIPDX?) had 80% of 1000 people testing positive for XMRV. That's more people who simply presume they may have XMRV and sent their blood in.
That should have the CDC running for the bomb shelter in preparation for when we walk into the fields attach a giant rubber band (to the nearest weight lifting cow with a strong back) and fire a salvo of Prozac back at them. Incoming!!!!!!! :tear:
Imagine non diagnosed HIV (If HIV was discovered by the WPI) people presume they have this new thing called HIV, random members of the public. Yet 80% happen to 'guess' correct and it comes back indeed positive for the illness that is proposed to be linked to their virus by the WPI and told to be in your mind by the CDC. Again, the rates are far too high for HIV to not being causing disease, just like XMRV in the case of CFS.
Another example of the significance of the high % rates of XMRV finding in CFS here would be MS diagnosis. 'Detecting' MS is not as clear cut and easy as it may first sound. MS needs evidence of CSF abnormalities/or MRI abnormalities in conjunction with classic MS 'events' proved by a medical doctor just to get a diagnosis. Take out the 'observations' by a doctor of an MS event, and the % rate of MS would be less using just MRI and spinal tap alone. Again the % rate of patients sent by the doctor with 'suspected' MS to hospital for further testing, are no way near 80%. Many people with suspected MS, never quite make the diagnosis and linger on the fringes of being accepted. Some get a diagnosis of ME instead, or even somatization disorder if the paralysis is considered 'fake'.
Doctors 'suspect' MS, and send for exclusionary tests and of course the % rates is never 80%.
Yet
WPI 'suspects' XMRV is in CFS patients, sends for a first research style blood test ever made and hits 80%+ on the first go.

Get the criteria stringent, take a history and other bloods, and the rate shoots up to 98% even in 2009/10. Imagine someone devised a test for MS, and in it's infancy, were getting 80% hit rate using just blood alone, and no other agreed stringent diagnostic criteria. This is what the WPI have achieved. It's truly remarkable. Again I'll repeat, the 'give away' sign that XMRV 100% for certain causes human disease are the stunning figures of:
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80% (Alter via how many methods?) to 98% (Science via 4 methods) of people with CFS test positive for XMRV.
Vs
10% of Immune Suppressed.
4-7% of healthy test positive for XMRV
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A bunch of sick ill people with the same cluster of symptoms, all testing positive for a retrovirus, at 80-98%, in infancy of ability to detect this retrovirus? :Retro tongue: They obviously found the cause, as the figures will only rise as the testing method and VIRUS RESERVOIR (Probably CNS), are found. Find the virus reservoir, and the % rate climbs much higher and will become universal, e.g. 100%.
As in Diabetes.
We don't look for Diabetes in nail clippings, but blood and blood after a certain set of protocol (fasting blood sample), and then repeated. Currently in XMRV, we have no idea where to look, and WPI hit 98% and Alter 80%. Just think what % rate we will reach eventually? 
Even if the Alter paper is (pun not intended) Altered.......... WPI wil continue and continue to offer tests to the general public to help diagnose us 'remotely'.