Post Reply - CoViD in the 1980's ????

The illness gained national attention in the United States when the popular magazine Hippocrates ran a cover story of an epidemic at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in the mid-1980s.^[34] The designation Chronic Epstein–Barr Virus was in use in the U.S.,^[35][36] but the magazine used the term "Raggedy Ann Syndrome" to note the fatigue and loss of muscle power patients felt.^[37] Researchers investigating the Lake Tahoe cluster did not find evidence that EBV was involved, and they proposed the name "chronic fatigue syndrome", describing a main symptom of the illness.^[38][39] They published the first working case definition for CFS in 1988.^[40] Research increased considerably, and more so after the criteria were relaxed in 1994.^[41]

In 1990, researchers presented evidence they found DNA sequences very similar to the human HTLV-II retrovirus in some CFS patients, at a conference in Kyoto, Japan.^[42][43] Their study was later published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.^[44] A reporter on Prime Time Live stated the announcement made headlines all over the world. The CDC first ignored their findings,^[45] then later conducted a study and published a paper that refuted the hypothesis.^[46]

In the United Kingdom, the Chief Medical Officer Kenneth Calman requested a report from the medical Royal Colleges in 1996. This led to the publication of a joint report in which the term "chronic fatigue syndrome" was found to be most representative.^[47] This was followed in 2002 by a further report by the new CMO, Liam Donaldson.^[48]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) recognize CFS as a serious illness, and launched a campaign in June 2006 to raise public and medical awareness about it.^[49][50]