Wong, Timothy L, Weitzer, Danielle J · Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021 · DOI
Researchers reviewed 21 studies about Long COVID (symptoms lasting months after COVID-19 infection) and compared them to ME/CFS symptoms. They found that Long COVID patients reported 25 out of 29 known ME/CFS symptoms, suggesting these two conditions share many similarities. The study highlights the need for better monitoring and treatment of patients with Long COVID, and calls for more standardized research methods to understand both conditions better.
This comparison is significant because it suggests Long COVID and ME/CFS may share underlying pathophysiological mechanisms or disease processes, potentially allowing insights from decades of ME/CFS research to inform Long COVID management and vice versa. Recognizing these similarities could accelerate diagnosis and treatment development for both patient populations and improve clinical care protocols.
This study does not prove that Long COVID and ME/CFS are the same disease, nor does it establish causation or shared etiology. The high symptom overlap does not explain whether the conditions share the same biological mechanisms, and findings are limited to early Long COVID research with varying methodologies and definitions. Studies after January 2021 may have documented additional or different symptom patterns.
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
Wong, Timothy L & Weitzer, Danielle J (2021). Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)-A Systemic Review and Comparison of Clinical Presentation and Symptomatology.. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57050418
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-wong-2021-long-covid,
author = {Wong, Timothy L and Weitzer, Danielle J},
title = {Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)-A Systemic Review and Comparison of Clinical Presentation and Symptomatology.},
journal = {Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.3390/medicina57050418},
note = {PubMed: 33925784},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wong-2021-long-covid},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wong-2021-long-covid
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