Mononucleosis may be hidden behind a high fever with pain in the throat and stomach. 80% of children and adolescents suffer from this infectious disease caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. The disease affects such vulnerable organs as the tonsils, spleen, and lymph nodes. In young children, the disease can proceed completely unnoticed. The typical course of the disease with lymphadenopathy and prolonged feeling of malaise can be observed in adolescents and adults. In this case, you can often observe a strong enlargement of the spleen, and a feeling of fullness appears in the abdomen. Possible complications may include problems with the liver, kidneys and heart, as well as inflammation of the membranes of the brain. In initially healthy patients, the disease almost always occurs without complications.
Course of the disease
Infants and young children develop fever and stomach problems (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea). A sign of infection is damage to the upper respiratory tract, namely coughing. Older children may experience symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, followed by fever, headaches and sore throat. Characteristic of mononucleosis is inflammation of the lymph nodes (especially the cervical lymph nodes). In this case, the patient feels severe pain in the throat, and there is some puffiness in the neck area.
An important diagnostic sign of the disease is the appearance of atypical cells in the blood – atypical mononuclear cells, which is why mononucleosis got its name. Mononuclear cells are lymphocytes modified by a viral infection; they circulate in the blood for several days and then disappear.
When to call a doctor
The next day, if the child has a fever for three days, a sore throat or swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpits or groin. During the day, if you find a white-yellow coating on the tonsils, the child’s left side hurts and the skin has become yellow. Consult a doctor immediately if the child has small dark red spots on the skin (these may be hemorrhages), if the child with mononucleosis or after recovery develops sudden pain in the left side under the ribs and at the same time pale skin (this may indicate a rupture). spleen, which is life-threatening).
Doctor’s help
The disease can be diagnosed with a quick blood test. If inflammation of the spleen is suspected, an ultrasound examination of the abdomen is performed. Only symptomatic therapy is possible. If the tonsils, spleen or lymph nodes are severely inflamed, or the disease affects the brain, or the number of cells in the blood test has decreased, short-term treatment with cortisone is necessary. Antibiotics are prescribed only for additional bacterial inflammation.
Your help to the child
Older children should be kept in bed. For mild cases of the disease, bed rest is not necessary; however, the child should not be active. A sore throat can be treated with cool drinks, gargling with a chamomile solution, and wrapping a scarf around your neck. If the spleen is inflamed, contact sports and ball games should be avoided. There is no vaccine against mononucleosis.
Incubation period: 3 – 7 weeks
Infectious mononucleosis is often called the “kissing disease” because it requires close contact to be transmitted. That’s why you shouldn’t lick your baby’s pacifiers and cutlery, bite into the same apple, or drink from the same glass.
The patient becomes infectious several days before the onset of the disease and up to 1-2 weeks after.