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. The syndromes heavily overlap with health conditions that have existed in the past.
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, turn out to be 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 fungi/yeast growing on their implants compared to healthy controls. Limitations on our current ability to detect microorganisms in biofilm structures may mean that bacterial colonies are more common than what the study detected (36% among BII patients).
ME/CFS is also a condition that has been linked to infectious diseases:
- Various infectious diseases: enteroviruses, herpesviruses including Epstein-Barr virus, Q fever, coxsackie b, 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 paths can lead to the body being unable to control persistent infections. The diversity of the bacteria, viruses, yeast, parasites, etc. that live inside humans would explain why symptoms vary so much from patient to patient.