title: Chronic fatigue syndrome following infections in adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the recent epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of postinfectious chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in adolescents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirteen percent of adolescents (mainly women) met the criteria for CFS 6 months following infectious mononucleosis; the figure was 7% at 12 months and 4% at 24 months. Peak work capacity, activity level, orthostatic intolerance, salivary cortisol, and natural killer cell number and function were similar between adolescents with CFS following infectious mononucleosis and recovered controls. Autonomic system, oxygen consumption, peak oxygen pulse, psychological and cytokine network differences were documented between those who recovered and those who did not.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prognosis of CFS is better in adolescents than in adults. Activity level, exercise tolerance, and orthostatic testing could not distinguish patients with CFS from adolescents who have recovered from infectious mononucleosis (controls), while certain cytokine network analyses, life stress factors, and autonomic symptoms could.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA. bkatz@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Ben Z
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: Leonard A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jason
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors