Jacobson, S K, Daly, J S, Thorne, G M et al. · Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 1997 · DOI
This case study describes a young woman whose severe fatigue, fever, and other symptoms resembled ME/CFS, but were traced to a persistent parvovirus B19 infection. Doctors detected the virus in her blood using sensitive testing methods, even though her body had produced antibodies against it. When she received intravenous immunoglobulin treatment, her fever improved.
This study raises the important possibility that some ME/CFS cases may have an infectious etiology, specifically chronic parvovirus B19 infection. It also demonstrates that sensitive molecular testing (nested PCR) may be necessary to detect persistent viral infections that standard antibody testing alone would miss, potentially improving diagnostic approaches for ME/CFS patients.
This single case cannot establish that parvovirus B19 causes ME/CFS in the general population, nor does it prove that all or even many ME/CFS patients have parvovirus infection. The case presentation does not rule out confounding factors, and the patient's response to immunoglobulin, while suggestive, does not definitively confirm causation without controlled studies.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Jacobson, S K, Daly, J S, Thorne, G M, & McIntosh, K (1997). Chronic parvovirus B19 infection resulting in chronic fatigue syndrome: case history and review.. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1086/513627
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-jacobson-1997-chronic-parvovirus,
author = {Jacobson, S K and Daly, J S and Thorne, G M and McIntosh, K},
title = {Chronic parvovirus B19 infection resulting in chronic fatigue syndrome: case history and review.},
journal = {Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America},
year = {1997},
doi = {10.1086/513627},
note = {PubMed: 9195056},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/jacobson-1997-chronic-parvovirus},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/jacobson-1997-chronic-parvovirus
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