Antwoord McClure op open brief Whittemore en

de reaktie van Whittemore daarop.

 

 

 

 


 

Op de website van het Whittemore-Peterson Instituut,

de drijvende kracht achter de XMRV-Lombardi-Mikovits-studie,

is het antwoord van Myra McClure, die participeerde in de XMRV-Wessely-studie,

op de open brief van Annette Whittemore gepubliceerd,

alsmede het antwoord van Whittemore op die brief van McClure.

 

De kern van het verhaal:

Whittemore dringt er bij McClure op aan eerst een methode te ontwikkelen waarmee men in staat is XMRV-infekties vast te stellen, alvorens op grote schaal monsters uit te wisselen.

 

 


 

Dear Mrs Whittemore,

 

When your email of the 23rd April arrived I was just leaving for the airport. I had been booked to take a holiday in Rome with my mother, but volcanic ash prohibited that and we holidayed on the English coast instead.

 

I was appalled and saddened to read of your daughter’s medical history and can well appreciate why you are doing so much to further research into this disease.

 

It must be truly heart-breaking to witness a child being robbed of her youth.

 

You should know that I am neither a clinician nor someone who has a research programme on CFS/ME. I run a retrovirology laboratory and we became interested in XMRV after the second major paper on its association with prostate cancer.

 

We agreed to test CFS samples from a colleague because we were, at that time, the only laboratory with the means to do so.

 

As I explained previously, the controversy surrounding CFS and XMRV requires to be solved by national virology reference laboratories, such as the CDC and HPA.

 

We have published our findings. Others have published similar findings to our own. We have no further involvement in the study of CFS.

 

It only remains for me to wish you well in your endeavours.

 

 

With kindest regards,

 

Myra McClure

 

Professor Myra McClure Ph.D. D.Sc.F.R.C.Path.

Professor of Retrovirology & Honorary Consultant in GU Medicine

Head of Section of Infectious Diseases

Jefferiss Research Trust Laboratories

Wright-Fleming Institute

Faculty of Medicine

Imperial College London

St Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, W2 1PG

 

 

https://www.wpinstitute.org/news/docs/mclure-wpi_ltr_apr10.pdf

 

 


 

Professor Myra McClure Ph.D. D.Sc.F.R.C.Path.

Jefferiss Research Trust Laboratories

Wright-Fleming Institute

Faculty of Medicine

Imperial College London

St Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, W2 1PG

 

 

Dear Professor,

 

 

I appreciate once again your timely reply.

 

Your suggestion regarding testing of new samples in a confirmatory manner with others in the United States is already underway at two separate laboratories.

 

Those studies are ongoing and I am certain that the results will be shared when the studies are complete.

 

What we offered in our collaboration with you was to have you conduct new tests using our methods and materials which have successfully positively identified XMRV in a patient's blood sample.

 

Testing of new samples with your methods without first clinically validating the testing method only brings us back to the point where we stand today.

 

Today, we have one group of tests that positively detects XMRV in ME/CFS patients and one method of testing which does not.

 

It makes no sense to do a larger study using the methods which have already failed to detect XMRV.

 

Once we are certain that your laboratory is employing methods that can detect the virus in a small set of patient samples that includes XMRV positive samples, we can then move to the next step and share a larger and broader range of samples.

 

In all cases, we must each agree to use the same scientific protocols to insure the integrity of this study.

 

This is a simple and straightforward way to better understand XMRV in your population of patients.

 

It may well be that the samples you were given were negative for XMRV.

 

It may also be that your new results on fresh blood samples from individuals with ME/CFS will reveal the presence of XMRV.

 

Our true interest lies in helping you find those in the UK who may be infected with XMRV.

 

 

Most Sincerely,

 

 

Annette Whittemore

 

 

https://www.wpinstitute.org/news/docs/wpi-mclure_ltr_apr10.pdf

 

 


 

Met dank aan Erik die mij attent maakte op bovenstaande brieven.