Written question asked by Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 16 March 1999, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 March 1999. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Monday, 22 March 1999 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to commission a national epidemiological study into chronic fatigue syndrome/ME.

Answer: Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to commission a national epidemiological study into chronic fatigue syndrome/ME. [77854] Mr. Hutton: There are currently no plans to commission a national epidemiological study into chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). A number of definitions, disease descriptions or diagnostic criteria have been proposed to describe CFS/ME and there is no general agreement as to which should be used. This makes the results from studies on the prevalence of CFS/ME difficult to interpret and there is no agreement on the incidence of the illness. The heterogeneity of the definitions for CFS/ME was an issue that was raised at the first meeting of the CFS/ME Working Group and is likely to be a topic for further discussion as work progresses. If a definitive diagnostic criteria for CFS/ME can be defined requests for a national epidemiological study would need to be considered in line with other competing priorities.

Secondary information