Posted by Winston Salem | Posted in Winston Salem Health | Posted on 08-10-2008
Infectious mononucleosis, also called mono, is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is a type of herpes virus. The herpes virus also causes cold sores and illnesses like chicken pox.
How Do I Get Mono?
Most people who get mono are between the ages of 10 and 25. The mono virus affects your salivary glands, respiratory system (lungs and breathing tubes), and blood, and it can make you feel tired and achy all over. Salivary glands are located inside of your mouth – on the inside of your cheeks and
under your tongue – and produce the saliva, or spit, in your body.
Mono is contagious, which means you can easily spread the virus to other people who haven’t had mono before. Even though you can get mono from kissing someone infected with EBV, there are also other ways you can get it, but they all involve contact with spit. Coughing (while not covering your mouth)
on someone, sharing pillows, straws, toothbrushes, or food from the same plate, and kissing can also spread mono.
If you get mono, you can infect other people for up to 6 months afterward. Because at first people usually don’t feel sick after getting infected with the EBV virus, someone could have mono – and be spreading it – and not even know it. That’s why it’s important not to share things like forks, straws,
or lip gloss at school.
How Do I Know I Have It?
Almost always, mono causes you to feel really, really tired, but you may have other symptoms, too.
These include:
- fever
- sore throat
- swollen lymph glands (the infection-fighting glands in your neck, underarms, and groin)
- headaches
- sore muscles
- enlarged liver or spleen (an organ located on the left side of your belly, right under your ribs, that filters blood and helps fight infections)
Sometimes, it may seem like you have the flu or maybe strep throat because the symptoms are so alike. The only way to tell for
sure if you have mono is to go to a doctor, who will examine you and draw blood for tests (one test is called a monospot) to see if you have mono.
