Tapanui Flu

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Tapanui Flu is a colloquial and outdated name used in New Zealand for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), coined after an outbreak occurred in the Tapanui area in the early 1980s. Though sometimes still used informally, it has been replaced in the medical community with the terms: myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), postviral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) and/or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).[1]

The term, Tapanui Flu, originated from a 1984 outbreak in the small, rural town of Tapanui, in West Otago in New Zealand's South Island, close to the boundary with Southland region.[2] The late Tapanui GP Peter Snow was instrumental in identifying this outbreak.[3]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)". Health Navigator New Zealand. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  2. Levine, P. H.; Snow, P. G.; Ranum, B.A.; Paul, C.; Holmes, M. J. (April 14, 1997). "Epidemic neuromyasthenia and chronic fatigue syndrome in west Otago, New Zealand. A 10-year follow-up". Archives of Internal Medicine. 157 (7): 750–754. ISSN 0003-9926. PMID 9125006.
  3. "Covid-19 could lead to 'explosion' in Tapanui flu cases". Otago Daily Times Online News. August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.