First reported in 2016, Havana Syndrome is defined as a “cluster of idiopathic symptoms.” In addition to the US and Canada, the syndrome has also been reported in countries including Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, India, Columbia, and Austria.
People Diagnosed With ‘Havana Syndrome’ Show No Medical Illness
In 2017, many people including the families of the US intelligence and military personnel began to experience symptoms such as ringing in the ears, deafness, headaches, dizziness, and cognitive dysfunctions. Later that year, cases were reported in locations around the world. Initially, reports came from Tbilisi, Georgia, Australia, Poland, Taiwan, Moscow, and Russia. Within a year, reports came from Uzbekistan, Colombia, Austria, and Kyrgyzstan, among other countries.
Starting in early 2018, several diplomats in China began to report symptoms similar to Havana syndrome. The first case in China was reported by an American diplomat residing in China at the largest US consulate in China named, the Guangzhou consulate. Though he reported the case in 2018, he said that he had been experiencing the symptoms since late 2017. Following that, several individuals were taken for further medical examination.
In 2019, an official at the White House reported experiencing similar symptoms while walking her dog in a Virginia suburb. Similar to the first case in China, this one was also publicly reported a year later. In late 2020, an incident similar to the previous one was reported by an individual residing on the south side of the White House. However, the investigators later concluded the issue stating they were unable to find the true cause of the condition.
In 2021, a series of US personnel stationed in Vienna, including intelligence officials, diplomats, and some children of the US personnel were reported to have experienced some of the symptoms that were closely associated with the Havana syndrome. In September 2021, the CIA chief in Vienna was criticized for not taking immediate action in response to the increased number of Havana syndrome reports. In late 2021, more cases were reported at the US embassy in Berlin. Later that year, the CIA evacuated an intelligence officer after he was suspected of being a victim of a neurological attack.
The abrupt onset of these symptoms led to years of debate among scientists who failed to find the root cause of the condition. However, medical studies conducted by scientists from the National Institute of Health suggest no clinical signs of brain damage. The researchers compared more than 80 of these samples with similar healthy people. The study found that the injuries were not caused by foreign attacks but were tied to previous injuries of a person such as several environmental concerns, stress, and social factors including psychology.
Following the findings, the NIH rehabilitation medicine expert Leighton Chan said: “These individuals have real symptoms and thus, they are going through hard times in their lives.” He was one of the experts who briefed the study last Friday.
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In the first study conducted by Chan, 42 women and 44 men were examined, who had experienced an incident at least 76 days before the study. Mostly, the participants were US government staff and their family members from different countries. 25% of these participants were unable to work due to the severity of the symptoms.