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. 1991 Apr 1;88(7):2922–2926. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.7.2922

Retroviral sequences related to human T-lymphotropic virus type II in patients with chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome.

E DeFreitas 1, B Hilliard 1, P R Cheney 1, D S Bell 1, E Kiggundu 1, D Sankey 1, Z Wroblewska 1, M Palladino 1, J P Woodward 1, H Koprowski 1
PMCID: PMC51352  PMID: 1672770

Abstract

Chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) is a recently recognized illness characterized by debilitating fatigue as well as immunological and neurological abnormalities [Straus, S.E. (1988) J. Inf. Dis. 157, 405-412]. Once thought to be caused by Epstein-Barr virus, it is now thought to have a different but unknown etiology. We evaluated 30 adult and pediatric CFIDS patients from six eastern states for the presence of human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I and II by Western immunoblotting, polymearse chain reaction, and in situ hybridization of blood samples. The majority of patients were positive for HTLV antibodies by Western blotting and for HTLV-II gag sequences by polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization. Twenty nonexposure healthy controls were negative in all assays. These data support an association between an HTLV-II-like virus and CFIDS.

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