Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, including details on myalgic encephalomyelitis (me), diagnosis, gradual and sudden onset.

Fatigue in coccidioidomycosis. Quantification and correlation with clinical, immunological, and nutritional factors.

Muir Bowers J, Mourani JP, Ampel NM

Valley Fever Center for Excellence and the Department of Medicine of the University of Arizona, and the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Center System, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

While described in the past, the frequency and degree of fatigue associated with symptomatic coccidioidomycosis has never been quantified. Using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), severe fatigue (FSS score = 41) was found in 65% of cases of active coccidioidomycosis compared to 42% in cohort of control subjects with chronic medical diseases (P=0.024). Fatigue in patients with symptomatic coccidioidomycosis declined significantly over four months (P=0.023). Severe fatigue in patients with symptomatic coccidioidomycosis was significantly associated with low body mass index (BMI; P=0.024) but was not significantly associated with either serum leptin (r2=0.078, P=0.261) or serum TNF-alpha (r2=0.028, P=0.504) concentrations. Severe fatigue is a common condition among patients with active coccidioidomycosis and is associated with a declining BMI.

Published 30 October 2006 in Med Mycol, 44(7): 585-90.
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