Mononucleosis - an Overview

Mononucleosis - an Overview

Mononucleosis
Mononucleosis is an infectious disease. This particular infectious disease has a variety of nicknames. These nicknames include “mono” and “the kissing disease”. In the United States, about 95% of men and women between the ages of 35 and 40 have been infected with “the kissing disease” at some time in their lives.
Mononucleosis is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. EBV is so common, that many people have exposed to it during sometime during their youth. Although they have been exposed and possibly even infected by the virus, does not necessarily mean they will become sick. People who have been infected by EBV will be carriers for the virus for the remainder of their lives. The disease normally lives in the throat or blood cells. Not everybody that is infected with EBV show symptoms. But just because they don’t show symptoms does not mean it can be transmitted to another person. Because you are a carrier for life after you have been infected, the disease could relapse. It is very rare because it only happens to people with weakened immune systems. In extremely rare cases, long term infections of the disease have been associated with certain types of cancer. These two types of cancer are Burkitt’s lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Mononucleosis got the nickname “kissing disease” because of one of the ways it can be transmitted from person to person. You can get it by just kissing somebody that has been infected with “the kissing disease” sometime in their life because they are carriers for life. Also, just because you kiss somebody that had mono at some time, does not mean you will get infected. It just puts you at risk.
Kissing isn’t the only way to get mono. Since Mononucleosis is transmitted through saliva, you can get the disease a variety of other ways. Some of these ways are: sharing a drink, coughing, sneezing, sharing lip gloss, etc.
Children and adults that are exposed to the disease usually don’t get symptoms, but 35-50% of...

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