Multiple persistent infections
What's old is new again. Long haul syndromes (long COVID and vaccine injury) can be thought of as remixes of health problems that have previously existed. Long haul is a throwback to chronic health conditions as there is a heavily overlap in the symptoms that sufferers experience.
ME/CFS versus post vaccination syndrome symptoms are compared below:
Data from:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC2429637/pdf/postmedj00163-0031.pdf
- https://www.react19.org/post/persistent-neurological-symptoms-patient-survey
Breast implant illness versus post vaccination are compared below:
Data from:
- https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/breast-implants/medical-device-reports-systemic-symptoms-women-breast-implants
- https://www.react19.org/post/persistent-neurological-symptoms-patient-survey
The common denominator
One common thread that runs through long haul, ME/CFS, and breast implant illness (BII) are infectious diseases. Breast implants, while being inorganic and biologically inactive, provide an excellent environment for bacteria. One observational study on BII patients found that BII patients were six times more likely to have culturable bacteria or yeast growing on their implants (compared to healthy controls undergoing surgery to replace their implants). While only 36% of the BII group had a positive culture for bacteria/yeast, limitations on our current ability to detect microorganisms in biofilm structures may mean that bacterial colonies are more common than what the study detected.
ME/CFS is a condition that has been linked to:
- Various infectious diseases: enteroviruses, herpesviruses including Epstein-Barr virus, Q fever, and Ross River virus.
- Outbreaks
- Stress, e.g. from a divorce. Stress is thought to weaken the immune system.
- Trauma, e.g. a car accident, head injury, etc.
The data suggests that many different pathogens can lead to chronic illness and that infectious pathogens underlie chronic illnesses. The diversity of the bacteria, viruses, yeast, parasites, etc. that live inside humans would explain why symptoms vary so much from patient to patient.