News, press coverage, research and personal recommendations on ME/CFS and care for people affected by it.
Open letter
Sibylle Dahrendorf · Letter dated
Sibylle Dahrendorf asks the German Society of Neurology to respond publicly to questions about how it understands ME/CFS and approaches care. Her letter refers to accounts of the society’s 2026 congress and asks how it considers post-exertional symptom worsening, biomedical research and severe cases.
Read the open letter (German) ↗Press coverage
Carolin Fröhlich · MDR AKTUELL ·
Carolin Fröhlich reports for MDR AKTUELL on gaps in ME/CFS care. Immunologist Carmen Scheibenbogen discusses ongoing treatment studies and how care could improve now.
Read the MDR report (German) ↗Recommended viewing
KiKA · STORY TIME · · 17 min
My recommendation from the ARD Mediathek: This KiKA documentary follows Annabelle, whose daily life changed after a COVID infection. She and her parents are calling for more research.
Watch in the ARD Mediathek (German) ↗Press coverage
Lisa Häfner · Merkur.de · Last updated
Lisa Häfner reports on a 19-year-old with severe ME/CFS and her family’s daily experience of providing care. The article describes the impact of light and sound sensitivity and why her mother has appealed for help with care at home.
Read the article on Merkur.de (German) ↗Press coverage
Lilli Messer · taz ·
Lilli Messer reports on Kathi and her friends’ call for better ME/CFS care. The article looks at gaps in care and advocacy by patients and families.
Read the taz article (German) ↗Health guide
Elena Zelle · NDR ·
For NDR, Elena Zelle explains the symptoms of ME/CFS, how it is diagnosed and approaches to managing symptoms.
Read the NDR guide (German) ↗Talk given 22 May 2025 · uploaded to YouTube · about 47 minutes · German · channel: LiegendDemo Hannover und Selbsthilfegruppen
I particularly recommend this talk by Dr Maja Strasser, a specialist in neurology.
Expand contribution
She is one of the doctors who have advocated for people with Long COVID and ME/CFS for years. She knows their often devastating daily reality from clinical practice, takes their symptoms seriously and approaches these illnesses from a medical perspective rather than prematurely labelling them psychosomatic.
As a co-author of the D-A-CH consensus statement on ME/CFS, she also advocates better diagnosis and practical treatment options.
We need committed doctors like her: people who listen, recognise connections and take responsibility rather than leave patients alone.
— Heike Sachtleben
Petrillo et al.: first published 9 March 2022; revised version . Related paper by Brogna et al.: 29 April 2022.
Mauro Petrillo, Carlo Brogna and their team report possible interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and gut bacteria. In bacterial cultures they observed viral proteins, indications of newly synthesised spike protein and changes they interpret as phage-like. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria.
The authors discuss whether gut bacteria could act as an overlooked viral reservoir. Possible implications for gut immunity and Long COVID remain research questions. This study establishes neither a cause of Long COVID nor an effective treatment.
These laboratory findings alone do not establish complete viral replication in gut bacteria inside the human body. The authors acknowledge that their interpretation conflicts with existing knowledge about the virus and call on other teams to test their findings.
F1000Research: Petrillo et al. – revised version
Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 bacteriophage potential in human gut microbiota
DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.109236.2
Vaccines: Brogna et al. (2022)
Could SARS-CoV-2 Have Bacteriophage Behavior or Induce the Activity of Other Bacteriophages?
DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10050708
Professional resources · webinar slides
Kathryn Hoffmann · Talk given
Slides from Kathryn Hoffmann’s medical training webinar in the “Der pandemische Dienstag” series. The talk covers clinical history, assessment and the classification of symptom patterns following viral infections.
Open the slides (PDF, German) ↗
Original source: Vienna Medical Chamber
Official programme (PDF, German) ↗
Webinar archive (physician login required) ↗
Research background
MedUni Wien · Publication date unavailable
The university’s research project site provides an overview of ME/CFS, symptoms such as post-exertional worsening, and open questions about causes and treatment.
Read the university’s information page (German) ↗Zachary Spiritos · English · 1:51 minutes · Publication date unavailable
Zachary Spiritos discusses vaccination decisions for people with mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS). The video considers possible effects of infections, possible reactions to vaccination and each person’s health situation.
It emphasises an individual assessment with the treating clinician. It refers to studies of early vaccine reactions; these do not establish a lower risk of severe reactions or MCAS flares.
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Public availability and embedding checked on 3 November 2026.
Papers and talks are shared for information and do not replace individual medical advice. Our commentary concerns the specific linked publication.
Sources checked on 2 November 2026.