Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2021 Apr 26;57(5):418.
doi: 10.3390/medicina57050418.

Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)-A Systemic Review and Comparison of Clinical Presentation and Symptomatology

Timothy L Wong  1 , Danielle J Weitzer  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)-A Systemic Review and Comparison of Clinical Presentation and Symptomatology

Timothy L Wong et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Long COVID defines a series of chronic symptoms that patients may experience after resolution of acute COVID-19. Early reports from studies with patients with long COVID suggests a constellation of symptoms with similarities to another chronic medical illness-myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). A review study comparing and contrasting ME/CFS with reported symptoms of long COVID may yield mutualistic insight into the characterization and management of both conditions. Materials and Methods: A systemic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE and PsycInfo through to 31 January 2021 for studies related to long COVID symptomatology. The literature search was conducted in accordance with PRISMA methodology. Results: Twenty-one studies were included in the qualitative analysis. Long COVID symptoms reported by the included studies were compared to a list of ME/CFS symptoms compiled from multiple case definitions. Twenty-five out of 29 known ME/CFS symptoms were reported by at least one selected long COVID study. Conclusions: Early studies into long COVID symptomatology suggest many overlaps with clinical presentation of ME/CFS. The need for monitoring and treatment for patients post-COVID is evident. Advancements and standardization of long COVID research methodologies would improve the quality of future research, and may allow further investigations into the similarities and differences between long COVID and ME/CFS.

Keywords: COVID-19; ME/CFS; chronic fatigue syndrome; long-haul COVID-19; myalgic encephalomyelitis; systemic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flowchart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Pollard C.A., Morran M.P., Nestor-Kalinoski A.L. The COVID-19 pandemic: A global health crisis. Physiol. Genom. 2020;52:549–557. doi: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00089.2020. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO Weekly Epidemiological Update-9 March 2021 (Retrieved 17 March 2021) [(accessed on 17 March 2021)]; Available online: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/340087/nCoV-weekly-sitr....
    1. CDC COVID Data Tracker (Retrieved 17 March 2021) [(accessed on 17 March 2021)]; Available online: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesper100klast7days.
    1. Zhou F., Yu T., Du R., Fan G., Liu Y., Liu Z., Xiang J., Wang Y., Song B., Gu X., et al. Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: A retrospective cohort study. Lancet. 2020;395:1054–1062. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30566-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yuki K., Fujiogi M., Koutsogiannaki S. COVID-19 pathophysiology: A review. Clin. Immunol. 2020;215:108427. doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2020.108427. - DOI - PMC - PubMed