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Originally published in Science Express on 8 October 2009
Science 23 October 2009:
Vol. 326. no. 5952, pp. 530 - 531
DOI: 10.1126/science.1181349
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Perspectives

Virology:

A New Virus for Old Diseases?

John M. Coffin1 and Jonathan P. Stoye2

There is little consensus in the medical community on whether chronic fatigue syndrome is a distinct disease. As its name implies, the condition is characterized by debilitating fatigue persisting for many years, and it affects as much as 1% of the world's population. Although chronic inflammation is often found in these patients, no infectious or toxic agent has been clearly implicated in this disease, which is diagnosed largely by excluding other conditions that cause similar symptoms (1). On page 585 of this issue, Lombardi et al. (2) describe the detection of xenotropic murine leukemia virus–related virus (XMRV) in about two-thirds of patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Both laboratory and epidemiological studies are now needed to determine whether this virus has a causative role, not only in this disease, but perhaps in others as well.

1 Department of Molecular Microbiology, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
2 National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London NW4 1AA, UK.

E-mail: john.coffin{at}tufts.edu

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