Shephard, Roy J · Clinical journal of sport medicine : official journal of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine · 2017 · DOI
This review examines how infectious mononucleosis (a viral illness caused by Epstein-Barr virus) affects young athletes and whether it can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome. The main finding is that with proper diagnosis and a few weeks of rest followed by gradual return to activity, most athletes recover fully within 2-3 months, and serious complications like splenic rupture are rare.
This study is relevant to ME/CFS patients because it addresses the relationship between infectious mononucleosis and chronic fatigue syndrome, a potential trigger or overlap that affects patient understanding of disease origin and post-viral sequelae. Understanding how post-viral fatigue develops and can be prevented through appropriate activity management has direct implications for ME/CFS risk mitigation and management strategies.
This review does not establish causality between infectious mononucleosis and ME/CFS, only documents that progression can occur. The mechanisms by which some patients develop chronic fatigue following IM while others do not remain unexplained. The study also does not define what constitutes 'progression to chronic fatigue' in objective terms or identify biomarkers that predict which patients will develop ME/CFS.
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
Shephard, Roy J (2017). Exercise and the Athlete With Infectious Mononucleosis.. Clinical journal of sport medicine : official journal of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0000000000000330
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-shephard-2017-exercise-athlete,
author = {Shephard, Roy J},
title = {Exercise and the Athlete With Infectious Mononucleosis.},
journal = {Clinical journal of sport medicine : official journal of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1097/JSM.0000000000000330},
note = {PubMed: 27347865},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/shephard-2017-exercise-athlete},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/shephard-2017-exercise-athlete
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