Jason, Leonard A, Cotler, Joseph, Islam, Mohammed F et al. · Journal of rehabilitation therapy · 2022 · DOI
This study followed 238 college students who developed infectious mononucleosis to see who would recover and who would develop ME/CFS. Researchers found that students who had stomach problems (pain, bloating, irritable bowel) before getting sick, combined with certain low immune markers and severe digestive symptoms when they got mononucleosis, had about an 80% chance of developing severe ME/CFS that lasted six months. This suggests that pre-existing gut problems and immune differences may help predict who is at highest risk.
This is the first study to prospectively identify predictors of severe ME/CFS development following IM, offering potential for early identification of high-risk patients. Understanding which biological and symptom profiles predict severe outcomes could enable targeted interventions and improve clinical management of post-viral ME/CFS.
This study does not prove that gastrointestinal symptoms or low IL-13/IL-5 directly cause ME/CFS; it only shows these factors are associated with higher risk. The findings apply specifically to ME/CFS following mononucleosis and may not generalize to ME/CFS from other infectious triggers or non-infectious origins. The study cannot determine whether these markers are causal mechanisms or simply biomarkers of predisposition.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Jason, Leonard A, Cotler, Joseph, Islam, Mohammed F, Furst, Jacob, & Katz, Ben Z (2022). Predictors for Developing Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Following Infectious Mononucleosis.. Journal of rehabilitation therapy. https://doi.org/10.29245/2767-5122/2021/1.1129
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-jason-2022-predictors-developing,
author = {Jason, Leonard A and Cotler, Joseph and Islam, Mohammed F and Furst, Jacob and Katz, Ben Z},
title = {Predictors for Developing Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Following Infectious Mononucleosis.},
journal = {Journal of rehabilitation therapy},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.29245/2767-5122/2021/1.1129},
note = {PubMed: 35350440},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/jason-2022-predictors-developing},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/jason-2022-predictors-developing
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