Researchers from the University of East Anglia and Oxford Biodynamics have created a highly accurate blood test capable of diagnosing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS).

This long-term and debilitating condition affects millions of people around the world, including more than 400,000 in the UK, yet it remains poorly understood and has lacked reliable diagnostic methods for decades.

Achieving an accuracy rate of 96 percent, the new test provides renewed hope for patients who have often faced years of uncertainty, misdiagnosis, or dismissal of their symptoms.

And it is hoped that the breakthrough could pave the way for a similar blood test to diagnose Long COVID.

Lead researcher Prof Dmitry Pshezhetskiy, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “ME/CFS is a serious and often disabling illness characterized by extreme fatigue that is not relieved by rest.

“We know that some patients report being ignored or even told that their illness is ‘all in their head’.

“With no definitive tests, many patients have gone undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years.

“We wanted to see if we could develop a blood test to diagnose the condition – and we did!

“Our discovery offers the potential for a simple, accurate blood test to help confirm a diagnosis, which could lead to earlier support and more effective management.”

“Post-COVID syndrome, commonly referred to as long COVID, is one example of ME/CFS, where a similar cluster of symptoms is triggered by the COVID-19 virus, rather than by other known causes such as glandular fever. We therefore hope that our research will also help pave the way for a similar test to accurately diagnose long Covid.”