Dionna Williams
Oh, No! Mono by Kirsten Weir
The article talked about a girl who had mononucleosis. Her name was Audrey Warnez and she was fifteen years old. First she came down with a severe sore throat and then began to feel fatigued and achy. She visited her doctor and they diagnosed her with mononucleosis. She had to stay in the bed for weeks because her body was too tired to do anything else.
Mononucleosis is an infection that begins with a sore throat and then fatigue takes over and last for weeks. It occurs in 15 to 36 year olds, but most often in 15 to 17 year olds. Also called the kissing disease, because a person can get it from sharing saliva when they kiss, there are a number of ways to get mono. For instance, sharing eating utensils, using an infected person’s pillow, or lip gloss, or even being on the end of a sneeze of an infected person. The symptoms consist of a sore throat, achy muscles, headache, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, and swollen glands.
Though the person has gotten well and is over the virus, it stays in the body for the rest of their life; this is because of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). It attacks white blood cells that play a significant role in the immune system. EBV is a member of the herpes family and could be why there’s no cure for mononucleosis, but; there are ways to treat the symptoms. For instance, chewing gum, drinking warm tea, sucking on popsicles or gargling with warm water can ease the pain of having the sore throat.
Comments:
Out of all the articles I enjoyed this one the best. The first thing about that caught my eye in the first place was the title and the story in the beginning that led to the other information in the article. I thought this was a clever way to begin and get the reader’s attention because it sure got mine.