Health Buzz: A Virus Might Be a Cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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Hints of a Viral Cause in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

There's new evidence that chronic fatigue syndrome, the mysterious collection of symptoms including severe fatigue, joint pain, and headache, might be caused by a type of virus, reports HealthDay. A retrovirus known as XMRV was found in two thirds of the patients with chronic fatigue but in fewer than 4 percent of healthy subjects sampled in a new study, HealthDay says. That suggests, but doesn't prove, that the syndrome—which many doctors have doubted is a verifiable, discrete disease—is actually caused by something identifiable, and if so, that it may eventually be treatable, the report says. The same retrovirus is being studied for its possible role in prostate cancer, since it has been found in both patients with the disease and tumor samples, the report says. The study appears online in the journal Science .

[Read: A New Fibromyalgia Remedy: Antiviral Drugs.]

Children and Teens Skipped Seasonal Flu Shot Last Year

Federal data show that children and teenagers skipped the seasonal flu shot in droves last year, though that is likely to change this year, given the threat of swine flu, the New York Times reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that just 21 percent of 5-to-17-year-olds were vaccinated against the seasonal flu last year, despite an official recommendation to do so, the report says. By contrast, about two thirds of elderly people surveyed received the vaccine, according to the new data. Those trends are not likely to hold this year, says a CDC official quoted by the Times ; with swine flu concerns swirling, there's already been an uptick in vaccination rates for this year's version of the seasonal flu vaccine. The paper also reports on a study showing that in the Southern Hemisphere's winter flu season, H1N1 disproportionately affected pregnant women and the obese, confirming what was seen in the United States earlier in the year. The vaccination campaign against H1N1, the official name for the swine flu, began this week.

[Slide Show: 10 Do's and 10 Don'ts to Protect Yourself From Swine Flu.]

Why Do Women Have Sex? The Answers May Surprise You

Why do women have sex? It's an intriguing question once you get beyond the obvious: to perpetuate the species and because it feels good, writes U.S. News's Deborah Kotz. Two University of Texas researchers wanted to dig deeper to find out what specifically drives women to go to bed with their partners. They conducted an online survey of more than 1,000 women ages 18 to 87 and found, to their surprise, that women aren't all that different from men. The survey asked women if they have ever had sex for one of the 237 reasons identified by the researchers in a previous study. If their response was yes, they would then be prompted to describe a specific sexual experience.

Kotz writes that the top reason reported by women in the survey is that they're attracted to their partner, followed by the pursuit of physical gratification. Lower down on the list were reasons connected to love or emotional bonding. One of the researchers, Cindy Meston, told Kotz the findings knock down the stereotype that men have sex for pleasure while women have sex for love. Read more.

[Read: Ways to Cope With Painful Sex.]

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