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Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized by a constellation of symptoms that may be related to persistent viral illness. Infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is 1 putative cause of this syndrome. To determine how often persistent fatigue follows infectious mononucleosis caused by EBV, these researchers prospectively examined 150 patients with acute infectious mononucleosis and serologic evidence of acute EBV infection.
Participants underwent physical examination and laboratory studies at diagnosis and 2 and 6 months after diagnosis. Self-assessed persistent fatigue and poor functional status were reported by 38 percent of patients (55 of 144) at 2 months and by 12 percent (17 of 142) at 6 months. Most patients who reported persistent sym…