Healthcare nonprofit Open Medicine Foundation (OMF) on Wednesday launched a large-scale international collaborative study to investigate the potential conversion of Post-Acute Sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), a chronic, life-altering disease with no known cause, diagnostic test or US FDA approved treatments available.

The company added that the Post-Acute Sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection is also known as Long COVID or Post-COVID Syndrome. Up to 2.5m people in the US alone suffer from ME/CFS; the COVID-19 pandemic could at least double that number. The company's goal is to find targeted treatments for ME/CFS patients and ultimately prevent its onset in people infected with SARS-CoV-2 or other infections.

This USD5m, three-year study will be conducted across the globe at OMF funded Collaborative Research Centers, led by some of the world's top researchers and ME/CFS experts. The focus is to find the biological differences between persons returning to good health after COVID-19 and persons who remained ill more than six months after infection and developed ME/CFS.

Additionally, the federal government is now investing in Post-COVID research, with no focus on its connection to ME/CFS.