Mononucleosis is a familiar infectious disease, especially among teenagers and young adults.
Commonly called "mono," the disease is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Infection occurs by passing bodily fluids to another person as a result of coughing, sneezing and kissing. Hence, mononucleosis is often called the "kissing" disease.
The time from infection until the symptoms appear (incubation period) is usually about 6 weeks.
The most common symptoms and signs of mononucleosis are fever, sore throat, swollen tonsils in the back of the throat, headaches, muscle aches, and swollen glands in the neck, armpits and groin.
The child or teenager will often just not feel well, with extreme tiredness, nausea and a poor appetite. Some may have a pale red rash all over the body.
Smaller children often have less severe symptoms or even no symptoms at all. A small child with it may appear to just have the common cold, with fever, runny nose, cough, some tiredness and not wanting to eat much.
Mononucleosis sometimes causes complications.
The amount of throat pain and swelling of the tonsils can make it very difficult to drink enough fluids, which leads to dehydration. This could make hospitalization necessary, so that fluids can be given directly into a vein (intravenous).
This illness sometimes makes the liver swell.
This can cause pain in the right side of the abdomen, as well as jaundice (a yellowing of the skin), nausea, vomiting and poor appetite.
The spleen, which is located on the left side of the abdomen, may also be affected. It can swell, and in rare cases, can burst open, creating a life-threatening problem with bleeding in the abdomen.
In rare cases, the same virus that causes mononucleosis can also cause meningitis, weakness or paralysis of the face (Bell's palsy), inflammation of the heart muscle, and anemia (low number of red blood cells).
It is difficult to prevent mononucleosis.
Good hand washing can help to prevent the spread of the virus that causes mononucleosis and other illnesses.
There is no vaccine against mononucleosis, but having had an infection one time probably provides immunity for life.
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