Chronic fatigue syndrome and increased susceptibility to upper respiratory tract infections and illnesses

Smith, A.P and Thomas, M (2015) 'Chronic fatigue syndrome and increased susceptibility to upper respiratory tract infections and illnesses.' Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behaviour, 3 (3). pp. 156-163. ISSN 2164-1846

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21641846.2015.1033271

Abstract

Background:- Previous research has suggested that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients report more upper respiratory tract illnesses (URTIs) than controls. Aims:- The present study aimed to replicate and extend this research. Method:- A prospective study of the incidence of URTIs was conducted. This was similar to previous work involving diary studies but also included objective measures of illness severity (e.g. nasal secretion; sub-lingual temperature) and infection (virus isolation from nasal swabs and antibody changes). Fifty-seven patients with CFS, diagnosed according to the 1994 CDC criteria, were recruited randomly from a volunteer panel compiled of patients who had attended the Cardiff CFS outpatient clinic. A further 57 individuals without CFS were recruited from a general population research panel. Results:- The results confirmed that CFS patients report more upper respiratory virus infections and the virological results showed that this was not due to a reporting bias but reflected greater susceptibility to infection. Conclusions:- This increased susceptibility to infection in the CFS group can account for the increased reporting of URTIs found in this and previous studies.

Item Type: Article
Note:

When citing this article, please use 'M.A. Thomas' rather than the 'M. Thomas' used above.

Keywords: chronic fatigue syndrome, upper respiratory tract infections
Subjects: Q Science > QM Human anatomy
Q Science > QP Physiology
R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
Divisions: School of Sciences
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1080/21641846.2015.1033271
Date Deposited: 05 Dec 2016 12:05
Last Modified: 15 Aug 2021 09:43
URI / Page ID: https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/8417
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