[hvocode]

Chronic fatigue syndrome has long been known to often start with a viral infection (for example: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21756995/). Other issues can arise as a consequence of viral infections as well (e.g., thyroid problems). I don’t think this is well known amongst the general public, even if it is known in the medical field. This may be a reason why people are surprised about “long-covid” as if long term effects are something unique to the SARS-COV-2 virus.

[londons_explore]

Is the mechanism behind this understood?

Patients test negative on PCR tests for the virus afterwards, so presumably the cause is no longer the virus directly, but some kind of irreparable damage.

[Gibbon1]

I think no one really knows. My thought is given the number of known serious autoimmune disorders that are possibly triggered by viral infections, wouldn't be a stretch that there are milder ones that aren't easily observable. A lot of brain <--> hormonal stuff is poorly understood.