Magnus, Per, Brubakk, Oddbjørn, Nyland, Harald et al. · Vaccine · 2009 · DOI
This study investigated whether a meningococcal vaccine given to teenagers in Norway in 1988-1989 was linked to the later development of ME/CFS. Researchers compared 201 people diagnosed with ME/CFS to 389 people without the condition and found no meaningful difference in vaccination rates between the two groups. The findings suggest that receiving this particular vaccine as a teenager does not increase the risk of developing ME/CFS.
Given ongoing public concerns about vaccines and ME/CFS, this study provides empirical evidence addressing one specific vaccine and CFS/ME risk in a defined population. Understanding environmental and biological triggers of ME/CFS remains crucial for patients seeking answers about disease etiology and prevention strategies.
This study does not prove that vaccines in general are safe regarding ME/CFS risk, nor does it rule out other specific vaccines or vaccination schedules as potential triggers. A single negative finding in one population cannot exclude rare or population-specific associations, and the study's retrospective design limits ability to establish temporal causality with certainty.
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
Magnus, Per, Brubakk, Oddbjørn, Nyland, Harald, Wold, Borgny Hedvig, Gjessing, Håkon K, Brandt, Ingunn, et al. (2009). Vaccination as teenagers against meningococcal disease and the risk of the chronic fatigue syndrome.. Vaccine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.10.043
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-magnus-2009-vaccination-teenagers,
author = {Magnus, Per and Brubakk, Oddbjørn and Nyland, Harald and Wold, Borgny Hedvig and Gjessing, Håkon K and Brandt, Ingunn and Eidem, Tove and Nøkleby, Hanne and Stene-Larsen, Geir},
title = {Vaccination as teenagers against meningococcal disease and the risk of the chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Vaccine},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.10.043},
note = {PubMed: 18984023},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/magnus-2009-vaccination-teenagers},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/magnus-2009-vaccination-teenagers
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.