Studying College Students for the Development of Infectious Mononucleosis and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

In the 1800s and early 1900s, patients with unexplained debilitating fatigue were said to have neurasthenia. In the 1970s, these patients were said to have chronic fatigue (CF). Over the ensuing decades, researchers have tried to define predisposing factors and etiologies of this CF symptom complex that can potentially cause patients to stop work or school. For standardization, the name chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was adopted with the following case definition: 6 months of unexplained fatigue plus 4 of the following 8 symptoms or signs: new headache, impaired concentration, sore throat, tender lymph nodes, myalgias, arthralgias, nonrefreshing sleep, and postexercise exhaustion [1]. In 2015, the definition of CFS was expanded (fatigue for at least 6 months that causes decrease in activities, postexercise malaise, nonrefreshing sleep, and 1 or both of the following: cognitive impairment and orthostatic intolerance) [2]. This new symptom complex was termed systemic exertion...