
Outbreaks of a chronic-mono-like entity were originally called EBS (or
some variant thereof) because most of the people with this disease had
elevated levels of antibodies to the EBV virus. But not all of them
did, which prompted an official renaming of the disease to Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome (this renaming took place in the Annals of Internal
Medicine, Jan. 1988, I believe). Now it's also called Chronic Fatigue
and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), since it seems clear that
some sort of immune disregulation is causing the probs.

Astonishly, there are still docs who tell people with massively
swollen glands, recurrent fevers and nightsweats, etc., that there's
nothing wrong with them. This is not the same thing as saying that the
syndrome may have a (at least partly) psychological cause. The
disagreement among people whose thoughts are worth considering centers
on just what the cause is. No one knows, but theories include:
psychological stress, some sort of virus (a retrovirus, say most --
maybe one of the newly discovered herpes viruses), environmental
toxins, bacteria (and, yes, candida), genes, (and/)or some combo of
these.

There's no outright cure at the moment, but different docs try
different things, some of which seem to help.

Massive amounts of info on the condition are available these days.
Post your Q to alt.med.cfs, and you will be flooded w/facts.