Epstein-Barr virus and infectious mononucleosis
Glandular fever and its mimics, reading heterophile and EBV serology, the complications that kill (splenic rupture, airway obstruction, HLH), and EBV-driven cancers and PTLD.
Tier 1Condition
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- Epstein-Barr virus (human herpesvirus 4) infects over 90% of adults and stays latent in B cells for life. Spread is through saliva, with an incubation of 4 to 6 weeks.
- Childhood infection is usually silent. Primary infection in adolescents and young adults causes infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever) in about half.
- Diagnose with a blood film, a heterophile antibody test and, when that is negative or the picture atypical, EBV-specific serology.
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Sources
- Clinical overview of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024 (page dated 10 April 2024)
- Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotic. Sore throat (acute pharyngitis and tonsillitis)AU/NZTherapeutic Guidelines Limited (eTG complete), current eTG edition (topic version not verified)
- Dunmire SK, Verghese PS, Balfour HH Jr. Primary Epstein-Barr virus infection. J Clin Virol 2018;102:84-92Journal of Clinical Virology, 2018
- Allen UD, Preiksaitis JK. Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders, Epstein-Barr virus infection, and disease in solid organ transplantation: guidelines from the American Society of Transplantation Infectious Diseases Community of PracticeClinical Transplantation, 2019
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
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