Mononucleosis – uncomfortable symptoms and fatigue can make life difficult for a long time

Symptoms of mononucleosis vary

The EBV virus, which causes mononucleosis, can cause troublesome and long-lasting symptoms, but fortunately the disease usually cures quickly and easily especially in young children. In practice, many do not even know that they have had mononucleosis.

The most typical symptoms of mononucleosis are:

• high fever
• swollen lymph nodes in the neck and elsewhere in the body
• sore throat

Sometimes, mononucleosis also causes these symptoms:

• swollen eyelid
• maculopapular rash in the body
• enlargement of the spleen or liver
• hepatitis

Mononucleosis – treatment means relieving symptoms

There is no cure for mononucleosis, and the disease usually subsides on its own. Hepatitis associated with the disease also heals on its own.

You can safely monitor your child’s health at home.

• You can treat the pain with painkillers.
• Drinking plenty of fluids prevents dehydration, relieves the sore throat and helps with fever.
• Let the child rest and play according to their energy level.

Mononucleosis – see a doctor in these situations

Consult your doctor if:

• adequate eating or drinking is difficult due to severely sore throat. The child may need hydration or more effective pain relief, or may have tonsillitis at the same time that requires antibiotic treatment.
• the general condition is particularly bad or difficult symptoms are prolonged. The possibility of rare sequelae or other infections should be ruled out.
• the enlarged spleen is subjected to an impact. In this case, the child needs immediate care.

Recovery from mononucleosis can take time

Mononucleosis often lasts longer than other infectious diseases. Symptoms usually pass in about 10 days. Full recovery can take time, as feeling weak and tired can persist for up to months.

If the spleen is enlarged, you should not return to sports for at least three weeks. This is due to the fact that an enlarged spleen may rupture easily. If this happens, the situation is serious and requires hospitalisation.

Mononucleosis – often transmitted though kissing

Mononucleosis is also called a kissing disease, as the Epstein-Barr virus that causes mononucleosis is transmitted through saliva.

Almost everyone is infected with the EB virus in Finland – usually as a child or at the latest in adolescence. In some of the infected, it leads to a condition called mononucleosis.

Very often, especially at school age, infections pass asymptomatically or they are contracted as a common cold-like illness. Viruses other than EB virus, such as cytomegalovirus, can sometimes cause an illness similar to mononucleosis.

Small children often get the disease in the day care centre, when toys go in the mouths of the little ones. If the disease is missed in childhood, it will almost certainly be encountered as a teenager through kissing.

After having the disease, EBV remains dormant in the body. Occasionally, the virus is activated and excreted in the saliva of the patient. Symptoms do not then appear on the carrier of the virus, but the disease can be transmitted to others, for example, through kissing.

Fortunately, the disease is not highly contagious, so there is no need to isolate the sick child. The child can also return to the day care centre or school when they are feeling well.

The specialist for this was Paediatrician Jukka Vakkila.