Kaiserseder, Moritz, Prüfer, Ferdinand, Untersmayer-Elsenhuber, Eva et al. · Pneumologie (Stuttgart, Germany) · 2026 · DOI
This study looked at 216 people recovering from COVID-19 in rehabilitation programs to see how many had ME/CFS—a condition with severe fatigue and worsening after physical activity. The researchers found that about 7% of these patients met the criteria for ME/CFS. These patients were typically younger, mostly women, and experienced much more severe fatigue that didn't improve with rehabilitation compared to other COVID-19 patients.
This study addresses a critical clinical gap by quantifying ME/CFS prevalence in post-COVID rehabilitation settings and demonstrating that a significant subset of PCS patients exhibit ME/CFS characteristics that may require fundamentally different rehabilitation approaches. Understanding ME/CFS presentation within PCS populations is essential for clinicians to identify and appropriately manage these patients, as standard rehabilitation may be ineffective or harmful due to post-exertional malaise.
This study does not establish causality or determine whether COVID-19 causes ME/CFS or if PCS and ME/CFS are distinct or overlapping conditions. The small sample size of the ME/CFS phenotype group (n=15) limits generalizability. The retrospective design and cross-sectional analysis cannot determine long-term outcomes or identify which rehabilitation factors may be beneficial or harmful for ME/CFS patients.
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
Kaiserseder, Moritz, Prüfer, Ferdinand, Untersmayer-Elsenhuber, Eva, & Zwick, Ralf Harun (2026). [The Role of ME/CFS Phenotype in Outpatient Post-COVID Rehabilitation].. Pneumologie (Stuttgart, Germany). https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2823-6976
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-kaiserseder-2026-role-cfs,
author = {Kaiserseder, Moritz and Prüfer, Ferdinand and Untersmayer-Elsenhuber, Eva and Zwick, Ralf Harun},
title = {[The Role of ME/CFS Phenotype in Outpatient Post-COVID Rehabilitation].},
journal = {Pneumologie (Stuttgart, Germany)},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1055/a-2823-6976},
note = {PubMed: 41911688},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kaiserseder-2026-role-cfs},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kaiserseder-2026-role-cfs
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