Skip to main content
. 2010 Aug 10;2(1):e2010022. doi: 10.4084/MJHID.2010.022

Table 6.

Centers for Disease Control’s case definition of the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) (from Klonoff 73)*.

Major Criteria

  1. New onset of fatigue lasting 6 months reducing activity to < 50%

  2. Other conditions producing fatigue must be ruled out

Minor Criteria
Symptom Criteria – beginning at or after onset of fatigue and persisting or recurring for at least 6 months

  1. Low-grade fever: temperature of 37,5°C–38,6°C (99,5°F–101,5°F) orally or chills

  2. Sore throat

  3. Painful cervical or axillary limph nodes

  4. Generalized muscle weakness

  5. Muscle pain

  6. Postexertional fatigue lasting 24 hours

  7. Headache

  8. Migratory arthralgias

  9. Nueropsychological complaints (photophobia, transient visual scotoma, forgetfulness, excessive irritabilitity, confusion, difficulty thinking, inability to concentrate or depression)

  10. Sleep disturbance

  11. Acute onset of symptoms over a few hours to a few days

Physical Criteria – documented by a phisician twice, at least 1 month apart

  1. Low-grade fever: temperature of 37,6°C–38,6°C (99,7°F–101,5°F) orally or 37,8–38,8°C (100,0°F–101,8°F) rectally

  2. Nonexudative pharyngitis

  3. Palpable cervical or axillary lymph nodes up to 2 cm in diameter

*

A case of CFS must fulfill both major criteria as well as reither eight symptom criteria or six symptom criteria plus two physical criteria.