Trainor-Moss, Santiago, Acquah, Rebecca Ruth, Peirse, Mary et al. · BMJ case reports · 2022 · DOI
This report describes one patient who developed a serious kidney infection caused by bacteria from a dog bite. After treatment with antibiotics, the patient recovered from the acute infection but then developed lasting fatigue symptoms similar to ME/CFS that persisted after the infection cleared.
This case is relevant to ME/CFS research because it documents the development of chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms following a serious bacterial infection, illustrating a potential infection-triggered pathway to post-viral/post-infectious fatigue conditions. The report highlights the importance of detailed exposure histories in sepsis workup and demonstrates that post-infection chronic fatigue can occur even in previously healthy individuals.
This single case report cannot establish causality between C. canimorsus infection and ME/CFS development, nor can it determine what proportion of such infections lead to chronic fatigue. It does not prove that dog bite-related infections are a common cause of ME/CFS, nor does it identify the specific mechanisms by which the infection triggered fatigue symptoms.
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
Trainor-Moss, Santiago, Acquah, Rebecca Ruth, Peirse, Mary, & Beadles, Wendy (2022). Renal abscess with <i>Capnocytophaga canimorsus</i> infection from a dog bite.. BMJ case reports. https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2022-250447
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-trainor-moss-2022-renal-abscess,
author = {Trainor-Moss, Santiago and Acquah, Rebecca Ruth and Peirse, Mary and Beadles, Wendy},
title = {Renal abscess with <i>Capnocytophaga canimorsus</i> infection from a dog bite.},
journal = {BMJ case reports},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.1136/bcr-2022-250447},
note = {PubMed: 36593617},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/trainor-moss-2022-renal-abscess},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/trainor-moss-2022-renal-abscess
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