Study warns of higher ME rates among pupils

children miss school more than previously thought due to a diagnosed chronic fatigue syndrome, according to a study

children much more than previously thought losing a lot of school because of chronic fatigue syndrome has not been diagnosed, according to a study.

The disease is identified as an important source of absenteeism and the study suggests that more efforts should be made to identify patients. About one in 100 school-age children suffer from this condition, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), the conclusions of the medical request open journal BMJ. With 3.3 million students in public secondary schools of England, which means that 33,000 children between 11 and 16, he estimated the study. This is much higher than the previous two surveys, they estimated that only 0.06% of schoolchildren have chronic fatigue and that is only seven patients among 8.839 children in 10 schools. The new figure is also higher than estimates of 0.1% to 0.5% for the prevalence of MS in general.

The conclusions are based on a survey of 2855 students aged 11 to 16 years in three secondary schools in and around Bath, of which 461 had lost 20% of their classes, or at least a days a week, over a period of six weeks. Some 315 of the 461 had a reason to identify as regular absenteeism as a medical illness, a bout of ill health or persistent truancy, and three of the 315 had already been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Among the 146 others who were skipping school, 112 attended a school clinic for evaluation, and 48 have been invited to a specialist CFS / ME clinic, of which 42 participated. Two of them had also been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, although the school had not been informed, and 23 others were also diagnosed with the disease.

This gave a total of 28 students in 2855 who were classified as having chronic fatigue syndrome, a rate of 1%.

"This project suggests that chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosed / ME can be an important cause and underrated of school absenteeism among children aged 11-16 years," said the authors , led by Dr Esther Crawley. She teaches senior consultant at the University of Bristol and a pediatrician who heads the largest clinic in the country for young people with chronic fatigue syndrome, the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath .

"GPS've always thought this is really rare in children under 16. However, this work shows that it is so rare," said Crawley. Schools need to consider the Students who have lost 20% or more of the day, think of the SFC as a probable cause and refer to a specialized service, he added.

• schools should begin screening students missing at least 20% of classes of signs of chronic fatigue syndrome, especially since the average time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis was 22 months, he said.
• A spokeswoman for the action said. "The findings of Dr. Crawley suggest that many more students that can not be estimated ME estimate that there are 250,000 people in the UK with me and the more than 25,000 of them are children and young. The youngest person to be diagnosed at some time in the UK was two. "

Education Department reacted cautiously to the results, saying it would be unwise to draw conclusions about the national situation from a study of only three schools, especially with a condition that is difficult to diagnose accurately.

A spokesman said:. "The absence from school, even for a day, is highly detrimental to students' perspectives, where there is an underlying medical problem, schools and local authorities should work with parents to minimize the impact of diseases long-term education of a student. "

Peter White, a professor of psychological medicine at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, said: "This well-conducted study shows that students who miss school without explanation of the fall between the stools of the school and the health service, and for two main reasons: the syndrome of emotional exhaustion, health problems and chronic (SFC)
"Both can delay or prevent a child from reaching their educational potential and staff."

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