Susceptibility to viruses

Increased susceptibility to viral infections with prolonged recovery periods is a diagnostic criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis in the International Consensus Criteria.

Prevalence
De Becker et al. (2001) found that 69% of people meeting the Fukuda criteria and 80% meeting the older Holmes criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome had recurrent flu-like symptoms, although this may not have been due to frequently catching viruses.

Symptom recognition
Increased susceptibility to viral infections with prolonged recovery periods is a diagnostic criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis in the International Consensus Criteria.

Possible causes
Increased susceptibility to viruses or frequent infections (including bacterial infections) which take a long time to recover from may also be a result of malnutrition, which may be caused by a poor diet, conditions causing maladsorption of nutrients, or altered nutritional needs caused by certain illnesses (e.g., cancer, or HIV).