Dear Friends:
XMRV – WHERE DO WE STAND
As most of you know, 4 papers were published in the journal of Retroviroligy while a 5th
commented on them pointing out how easy it is to contaminate lab experiments involving the
XMRV virus. The authors themselves disagreed on the interpretation of their data. One
senior author stated that he just wanted to point out how easy it is to test positive for
XMRV, even if the person is actually negative, if a tiny bit of the mouse DNA gets into
the sample tested.
There is no need to get upset about these findings in the latest papers as it did not
prove the other studies who did find the retrovirus wrong. It only means that those
testing the XMRV samples need to be extremely careful because of the possibility of
contamination. Something that researchers are very well aware of and don’t need to be
reminded of.
The way to look at the latest findings is that they are doing research and that for any
negatives found, the researchers who are way ahead of this research, can easily rectify
any negatives that are being thrown in the way of solving the problem of XMRV. No one
would be going through all this trouble if they had actual proof that it doesn’t exist.
Take pride in the fact that we are being taken seriously and research is ongoing. We know
that both XMRV and MLV has been found. Scientists are hard at work to discover what these
findings mean in regards to ME/CFS and what role, if any, it plays in the illness. Once
that is established, the research on treatment can go full speed ahead.
Hang in there everyone, we are getting there.
Lydia
Lydia E. Neilson, M.S.M. , Founder
Chief Executive Officer
NATIONAL ME/FM ACTION NETWORK
512 - 33 Banner Road
Nepean, ON K2H 8V7 Canada
Tel. 613.829.6667
Fax 613.829.8518
Email: mefmaction(a)ncf.ca
www.mefmaction.net
NATIONAL ME/FM ACTION NETWORK - HOST OF THE IACFS/ME INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH & CLINICAL
CONFERENCE