Vojdani, A, Choppa, P C, Tagle, C et al. · FEMS immunology and medical microbiology · 1998 · DOI
Researchers tested blood samples from 100 ME/CFS patients and 50 healthy people to see if a bacterium called Mycoplasma fermentans was present. They found this bacterium's genetic material in more than a third of ME/CFS patients compared to only 8% of healthy controls. Patients with higher amounts of the bacterium also had stronger immune responses against it, suggesting their bodies were reacting to the infection.
This study suggests a potential infectious trigger in ME/CFS that differs significantly from healthy populations, supporting the hypothesis that microbial infections may play a role in the disease. The finding that bacterial load correlates with immune response intensity provides a biological mechanism that could help explain ME/CFS pathogenesis and potentially guide treatment strategies.
This study does not prove that Mycoplasma fermentans causes ME/CFS—it only shows an association. The findings do not establish whether the bacterium is a primary cause, a secondary opportunistic infection, or simply a marker of immune dysregulation. Culturing the organism from patient samples and demonstrating direct pathogenic mechanisms would be necessary to establish causation.
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
Vojdani, A, Choppa, P C, Tagle, C, Andrin, R, Samimi, B, & Lapp, C W (1998). Detection of Mycoplasma genus and Mycoplasma fermentans by PCR in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. FEMS immunology and medical microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-695X.1998.tb01226.x
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-vojdani-1998-detection-mycoplasma,
author = {Vojdani, A and Choppa, P C and Tagle, C and Andrin, R and Samimi, B and Lapp, C W},
title = {Detection of Mycoplasma genus and Mycoplasma fermentans by PCR in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {FEMS immunology and medical microbiology},
year = {1998},
doi = {10.1111/j.1574-695X.1998.tb01226.x},
note = {PubMed: 9879928},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/vojdani-1998-detection-mycoplasma},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/vojdani-1998-detection-mycoplasma
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.