Virus may lead to rise in ME cases

THE coronavirus pandemic could see an explosion in the number of Scots being diagnosed with chronic illnesses, including ME, according to experts.

More than 21,000 Scots currently suffer from the debilitating illness Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). The condition is a chronic, multi-system disease that affects people of all ages, genders and ethnicities.

Professor Chris Ponting, chair of medical bioinformatics at the University of Edinburgh, said: ‘Unfortunately, it is possible that Covid-19 will lead to an increase in the number of people with ME. Of those people who have Covid-19 symptoms quite severely, I would expect about 10 per cent to have fatigue-like syndromes after six months.’

Currently, many patients with ME in Scotland are prescribed a treatment called Graded Exercise Therapy (GET).

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘The risks of treatment must always be explained and discussed before individuals decide to proceed with treatment delivered by a suitably trained GET therapist with experience in ME-CFS.’