Identifying disrupted biological factors and patient-tailored interventions for adolescents with Q-Fever Fatigue Syndrome

Severe debilitating fatigue is the dominant symptom of Q-fever fatigue syndrome (QFS). However, little research on QFS has been done in children and adolescents on pathogenesis or therapy. The proposed study integrates biology and a psychosocial approach to create an in-depth understanding of QFS.
The first part of the study focuses on etiology, by exploring the biological profile (e.g. the immunological profile, HPA axis, mitochondrial dysfunctioning, the gut microbiome) of children and adolescents with QFS. The second part of the study focuses on treatment of fatigue complaints, by comparing the effectiveness of a patient-tailored lifestyle advice and a generic dietary advice.

In addition, in recent literature, chronic fatigue is regarded as a generic instead of a disease-specific symptom. Fatigue is considered the result of a patient-specific complex interplay of psychosocial, lifestyle and biological factors, which calls for a comparable approach for various fatigue syndromes. Considering that QFS bears resemblance to the fatigue observed in chronic disorders such as Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME), the biological profile of children and adolescents with QFS will be compared to those with JIA and CFS/ME, as well as with healthy controls. Moreover, the effectiveness of the patient-tailored lifestyle advice and generic dietary advice will be evaluated across the three patient groups.

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Anouk Vroegindeweij