Recenti progressi in medicina · 1957
This is a historical medical report from 1957 describing an outbreak of a disease called myalgic encephalomyelitis (now known as ME/CFS). The report documents cases where patients experienced muscle pain and neurological symptoms during what appeared to be an epidemic. This early observation helped establish that ME/CFS could occur in clusters and affect multiple people.
This early medical documentation is historically significant for establishing ME/CFS as a recognized clinical entity with epidemic potential. It demonstrates that physicians in the 1950s observed consistent patterns of illness that would later be formally defined as ME/CFS, helping validate that the condition has a long medical history rather than being a recent phenomenon.
This historical report does not establish the cause of ME/CFS, the biological mechanisms underlying the condition, or why epidemics occur. It also does not provide evidence about prevalence rates, long-term outcomes, or effective treatments, as it is primarily a descriptive account rather than an analytical study.
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
Unknown authors (1957). [Benign epidemic myalgic encephalomyelitis].. Recenti progressi in medicina. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13518620/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-unknown-1957-benign-epidemic,
author = {Unknown, Author},
title = {[Benign epidemic myalgic encephalomyelitis].},
journal = {Recenti progressi in medicina},
year = {1957},
note = {PubMed: 13518620},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/unknown-1957-benign-epidemic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/unknown-1957-benign-epidemic
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