Virus may be cause of chronic fatigue

A virus recently linked to prostate cancer is a new suspect in chronic fatigue syndrome. US scientists tested blood from 101 patients and found two-thirds carried it.

A virus recently linked to prostate cancer is a new suspect in chronic fatigue syndrome. US scientists tested blood from 101 patients and found two-thirds carried it.

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That does not mean the virus causes chronic fatigue, stressed the research published on Thursday in the journal Science.

The team of scientists from the National Cancer Institute and Nevada’s Whittemore Peterson Institute said it was possible the virus, named XMRV, was just “a passenger virus” that catches a ride in patients whose immune systems are weakened by chronic fatigue.

The researchers found nearly 4 per cent of healthy people carried the virus, too. That raises questions about just what role this recently discovered virus may be playing in overall health.