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Review
. 2022 May;28(5):911-923.
doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-01810-6. Epub 2022 May 18.

Unexplained post-acute infection syndromes

Jan Choutka  1 , Viraj Jansari  2 , Mady Hornig  3 , Akiko Iwasaki  4   5   6   7
Affiliations
Review

Unexplained post-acute infection syndromes

Jan Choutka et al. Nat Med. 2022 May.

Erratum in

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 is not unique in its ability to cause post-acute sequelae; certain acute infections have long been associated with an unexplained chronic disability in a minority of patients. These post-acute infection syndromes (PAISs) represent a substantial healthcare burden, but there is a lack of understanding of the underlying mechanisms, representing a significant blind spot in the field of medicine. The relatively similar symptom profiles of individual PAISs, irrespective of the infectious agent, as well as the overlap of clinical features with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), suggest the potential involvement of a common etiopathogenesis. In this Review, we summarize what is known about unexplained PAISs, provide context for post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), and delineate the need for basic biomedical research into the underlying mechanisms behind this group of enigmatic chronic illnesses.

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