Comment on "Detection of an infectious retrovirus, XMRV, in blood cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome".
Lombardi et al. (Reports, 23 October 2009, p. 585) reported a significant association between the human retrovirus XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). However, the cases with CFS and the control subjects in their study are poorly described and unlikely to be representative. Independent replication is a critical first step before accepting the validity of this finding.
Lloyd
Andrew
A
Centre for Infection and Inflammation Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia 2052. a.lloyd@unsw.edu.au
White
Peter
P
Wessely
Simon
S
Sharpe
Michael
M
Buchwald
Dedra
D
D001773:Blood Cells / Q000821:virology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015340:Epidemiologic Research Design; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology*; D017988:Gammaretrovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000821:virology*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000821:virology*