News in Brief - February 2026
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Week beginning 2nd February 2026
News, advocacy and articles
Trial by Error by David Tuller "New Medical Anthropology Book on Chronic Illness Triggers Controversy"
Discussion of the controversy surrounding the book, Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID.
Article | Thread
#MEAction "Congress Tells NIH: Develop Plan to Implement ME/CFS Research Roadmap"
Congress has directed the NIH to develop an implementation plan for the ME/CFS Research Roadmap. Money must still be allocated to fund the roadmap. #MEAction has sent a letter to the NIH director asking for $50 million of discretionary funding.
Article | Thread
Norwegian guidelines The Norwegian Directorate of Health has published a draft for guidelines on long-term fatigue, including ME/CFS. The Norwegian ME Association has stated the draft has major shortcomings. The draft is now open for external consultations until May 4th.
Guidelines draft l Statement from TNMA l Thread
The Sick Times "Maryland considers Long COVID innovation bill"
Maryland may soon become the first U.S. state to directly support Long COVID research and development. The proposed bill doesn’t allocate government funding to Long COVID research. It uses existing infrastructure in the state to create a system for distributing potential gifts from private donors.
Article | Thread
UK Walk for M.E. This group has launched its 13th year inviting people to do sponsored events. So far they have raised over £238,000 for biomedical research into ME/CFS.
Details | Thread
Mike Harley has reached a new milestone - 10,000 miles - in his marathon challenge fundraising. That includes all his training runs, 38 marathon races, and 11 half-marathon races. To date Mike has raised £52,518 for Invest in ME.
Blog | JustGiving Link | Thread
Bateman Horne Center has released an Impact Report for 2025 with highlights from last year.
Report (PDF) | Thread
........
Coming events
Solve ME Webinar - Protecting the Ones You Love: Legal & Insurance Tools for ME/CFS Caregivers
Wednesday, February 11, 12 - 1 pm Pacific / 3 - 4 pm Eastern
Discussion of "long-term disability (LTD) insurance, long-term care (LTC) planning, medical and legal documentation tips, and practical steps families can take to secure benefits and long-term stability."
Announcement | Registration | Thread
Bateman Horne Center - Free Online Support Group
Tuesday, February 17, 1 - 2 pm MDT
Topic: Coping with Depression and Emotional Overload
Advance registration required, registration link shows time in your time zone.
Registration | Thread
UK Hope 4 ME & Fibro N. Ireland Conference - Shaping The Future for M.E. & Long Covid - Collaboration for Change
Friday, March 27, 7 pm to 9 pm GMT, in person conference for professionals and the wider community.
Speakers: Ponting, Trinick, Weir and Kane.
Details and booking | Thread
........
Research news and articles
NMCB - The Netherlands
The Dutch NMCB research consortium held its General Assembly on 26 January 2026. Researchers of multiple ME/CFS studies reported their current status and preliminary findings.
Article | Thread
ME/CFS Research Foundation
Scientists and clinicians based at institutions located in Germany can apply for the 2026 research funding programme of the ME/CFS Research Foundation. €2 million is available for new research projects. The deadline for submitting proposals is 30 April 2026.
Article | Thread
.........
Research
ME/CFS research
Indistinguishable mitochondrial phenotypes after exposure of healthy myoblasts to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome or control serum — Audrey A. Ryback et al.
"Despite our best efforts to replicate the study and findings from Fluge et al (2016), these results failed to demonstrate an effect of ME serum on increased OCR in cultured myoblasts." "Our results do not rule out the possibility of ME-biased factors being present in serum, but they do not support the use of this experimental method for detecting such factors."
Article | Thread
Immunoglobulin G Complexes from Post-infectious ME/CFS, including post-COVID ME/CFS Disrupt Cellular Energetics and Alter Inflammatory Marker Secretion — Liu et al.
"While IgG-induced mitochondrial fragmentation and alteration in energetics were more prominent in post-infectious ME/CFS patients, IgG-induced alterations in inflammation-associated cytokines were prominent in PCS-CFS patients." "We hypothesize that PCS-CFS patients represent an early stage of ME/CFS"
Article | Thread
The potential causes of myasthenia and fasciculations in severely ill ME/CFS patients: the role of disturbed electrophysiology — Wirth and Steinacker
Hypothesis paper. "Insufficient Na+/K+ -ATPase activity can explain mitochondrial dysfunction via sodium-induced calcium overload" "It may also contribute to a vicious circle that increases sodium loading through inappropriate excitations, further increasing mitochondrial damage through calcium overload."
Article | Thread
Long Covid research
NET Biomarkers in COVID-19 and Post-COVID Syndrome: a Comprehensive Analysis — Monsalve et al.
"Our findings revealed a significant increase in NET biomarkers during acute COVID-19 that persisted in PCS. This pattern was consistent with the in vitro study, where sera from PCS patients induced NET release."
Article | Thread
Non-invasive electrodiagnostic testing for small fibre neuropathy in long COVID-19 — Anthony Khoo et al.
"Notably, we demonstrated different combinations of abnormality among the four small fibre neuropathy tests illustrating the benefit of multimodal SFN testing protocols which interrogate different small nerve fibres."
Article | Thread
Choroid plexus alterations in long COVID and their associations with Alzheimer's disease risks — Huize Pang et al.
"patients exhibited enlarged ChP and reduced blood perfusion" "In addition to structural alterations, we observed decreased blood flow in the ChP" "findings indicate a regionally selective vulnerability of the ChP in long COVID"
Article | Thread
SARS-CoV-2 reinfections and subsequent risk of hospital-diagnosed post-acute sequelae in Denmark (2020–2022): a nationwide cohort study — Khurana et al.
"Of 4,418,544 individuals, 6942 (0.16%) were diagnosed with long COVID." "diagnoses were made in hospital settings and thus predominantly capture severe presentations. As a result, only a fraction of individuals experiencing postacute sequelae are likely represented, underestimating the true risk"
Article | Thread
Long-term health outcomes and risk factors for low self-rated health in non-hospitalised adults with post-COVID-19 condition: a 2.5-year cohort study — Törnberg et al.
"we observed sustained negative impacts of PCC on health outcomes 2.5 years after initial COVID-19 in non-hospitalised individuals, despite minor improvements over time."
Article | Thread
...........
S4ME social media: Forum, Mastodon, Bluesky
News, advocacy and articles
Trial by Error by David Tuller "New Medical Anthropology Book on Chronic Illness Triggers Controversy"
Discussion of the controversy surrounding the book, Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID.
Article | Thread
#MEAction "Congress Tells NIH: Develop Plan to Implement ME/CFS Research Roadmap"
Congress has directed the NIH to develop an implementation plan for the ME/CFS Research Roadmap. Money must still be allocated to fund the roadmap. #MEAction has sent a letter to the NIH director asking for $50 million of discretionary funding.
Article | Thread
Norwegian guidelines The Norwegian Directorate of Health has published a draft for guidelines on long-term fatigue, including ME/CFS. The Norwegian ME Association has stated the draft has major shortcomings. The draft is now open for external consultations until May 4th.
Guidelines draft l Statement from TNMA l Thread
The Sick Times "Maryland considers Long COVID innovation bill"
Maryland may soon become the first U.S. state to directly support Long COVID research and development. The proposed bill doesn’t allocate government funding to Long COVID research. It uses existing infrastructure in the state to create a system for distributing potential gifts from private donors.
Article | Thread
UK Walk for M.E. This group has launched its 13th year inviting people to do sponsored events. So far they have raised over £238,000 for biomedical research into ME/CFS.
Details | Thread
Mike Harley has reached a new milestone - 10,000 miles - in his marathon challenge fundraising. That includes all his training runs, 38 marathon races, and 11 half-marathon races. To date Mike has raised £52,518 for Invest in ME.
Blog | JustGiving Link | Thread
Bateman Horne Center has released an Impact Report for 2025 with highlights from last year.
Report (PDF) | Thread
........
Coming events
Solve ME Webinar - Protecting the Ones You Love: Legal & Insurance Tools for ME/CFS Caregivers
Wednesday, February 11, 12 - 1 pm Pacific / 3 - 4 pm Eastern
Discussion of "long-term disability (LTD) insurance, long-term care (LTC) planning, medical and legal documentation tips, and practical steps families can take to secure benefits and long-term stability."
Announcement | Registration | Thread
Bateman Horne Center - Free Online Support Group
Tuesday, February 17, 1 - 2 pm MDT
Topic: Coping with Depression and Emotional Overload
Advance registration required, registration link shows time in your time zone.
Registration | Thread
UK Hope 4 ME & Fibro N. Ireland Conference - Shaping The Future for M.E. & Long Covid - Collaboration for Change
Friday, March 27, 7 pm to 9 pm GMT, in person conference for professionals and the wider community.
Speakers: Ponting, Trinick, Weir and Kane.
Details and booking | Thread
........
Research news and articles
NMCB - The Netherlands
The Dutch NMCB research consortium held its General Assembly on 26 January 2026. Researchers of multiple ME/CFS studies reported their current status and preliminary findings.
Article | Thread
ME/CFS Research Foundation
Scientists and clinicians based at institutions located in Germany can apply for the 2026 research funding programme of the ME/CFS Research Foundation. €2 million is available for new research projects. The deadline for submitting proposals is 30 April 2026.
Article | Thread
.........
Research
ME/CFS research
Indistinguishable mitochondrial phenotypes after exposure of healthy myoblasts to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome or control serum — Audrey A. Ryback et al.
"Despite our best efforts to replicate the study and findings from Fluge et al (2016), these results failed to demonstrate an effect of ME serum on increased OCR in cultured myoblasts." "Our results do not rule out the possibility of ME-biased factors being present in serum, but they do not support the use of this experimental method for detecting such factors."
Article | Thread
Immunoglobulin G Complexes from Post-infectious ME/CFS, including post-COVID ME/CFS Disrupt Cellular Energetics and Alter Inflammatory Marker Secretion — Liu et al.
"While IgG-induced mitochondrial fragmentation and alteration in energetics were more prominent in post-infectious ME/CFS patients, IgG-induced alterations in inflammation-associated cytokines were prominent in PCS-CFS patients." "We hypothesize that PCS-CFS patients represent an early stage of ME/CFS"
Article | Thread
The potential causes of myasthenia and fasciculations in severely ill ME/CFS patients: the role of disturbed electrophysiology — Wirth and Steinacker
Hypothesis paper. "Insufficient Na+/K+ -ATPase activity can explain mitochondrial dysfunction via sodium-induced calcium overload" "It may also contribute to a vicious circle that increases sodium loading through inappropriate excitations, further increasing mitochondrial damage through calcium overload."
Article | Thread
Long Covid research
NET Biomarkers in COVID-19 and Post-COVID Syndrome: a Comprehensive Analysis — Monsalve et al.
"Our findings revealed a significant increase in NET biomarkers during acute COVID-19 that persisted in PCS. This pattern was consistent with the in vitro study, where sera from PCS patients induced NET release."
Article | Thread
Non-invasive electrodiagnostic testing for small fibre neuropathy in long COVID-19 — Anthony Khoo et al.
"Notably, we demonstrated different combinations of abnormality among the four small fibre neuropathy tests illustrating the benefit of multimodal SFN testing protocols which interrogate different small nerve fibres."
Article | Thread
Choroid plexus alterations in long COVID and their associations with Alzheimer's disease risks — Huize Pang et al.
"patients exhibited enlarged ChP and reduced blood perfusion" "In addition to structural alterations, we observed decreased blood flow in the ChP" "findings indicate a regionally selective vulnerability of the ChP in long COVID"
Article | Thread
SARS-CoV-2 reinfections and subsequent risk of hospital-diagnosed post-acute sequelae in Denmark (2020–2022): a nationwide cohort study — Khurana et al.
"Of 4,418,544 individuals, 6942 (0.16%) were diagnosed with long COVID." "diagnoses were made in hospital settings and thus predominantly capture severe presentations. As a result, only a fraction of individuals experiencing postacute sequelae are likely represented, underestimating the true risk"
Article | Thread
Long-term health outcomes and risk factors for low self-rated health in non-hospitalised adults with post-COVID-19 condition: a 2.5-year cohort study — Törnberg et al.
"we observed sustained negative impacts of PCC on health outcomes 2.5 years after initial COVID-19 in non-hospitalised individuals, despite minor improvements over time."
Article | Thread
...........
S4ME social media: Forum, Mastodon, Bluesky