Illness knows no color, age, or class...

Facts About Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• The etiologic agent that causes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is unknown.
  
• No specific diagnostic tests have been developed for identifying CFS.
  
• Although previously suggested, Epstein-Barr virus is not the causative agent of CSF.
  
• Because incapacitating fatigue can be associated with a wide range of well-defined illnesses, a diagnosis of CSF is made by a process of elimination. When all other conditions that might have caused the fatigue are ruled-out, a diagnosis can be made if at least 6 of the following 11 symptoms began at, or after, the onset of illness and have persisted or recurred during a 6-month period:
  

• mild fever (99.5°­101.5° F) and/or chills
  
• sore throat
  
• painful lymph nodes
  
• muscular discomfort
  
• prolonged (24 hours) generalized fatigue after exercise that was easily tolerated before illness
  
• generalized headaches (different from those the patient had before illness)
  
• migratory arthralgia without joint swelling or redness
  
• psychological complaints (e.g., forgetfulness, excessive irritability, confusion, depression)
  
• sleep disturbance
  
• sudden onset of symptoms (considered to be of equal importance as the symptoms)
  
• unexplained generalized muscle weakness