To understand what mononucleosis is, firstly we need to know what monocytes are.
Monocytes are nothing but a type of blood cells. These leucocytes are called monocytes due to the presence of a single large nucleus in their cell. Monocytes grow in the bone marrow and then develop into macrophages. The developed macrophages circulate in the blood for several days and protect your body from foreign body invasions. They also help in improving adaptive immunity.
Mononucleosis causes :
The Mononucleosis causes microorganisms of mononucleosis is the EBV-Herpes virus with an abnormal increase in the number of monocytes or white blood cells. The Epstein-Barr virus infection is noticeable in children and teenagers. Most of the teenagers or children who will get affected by this virus recover within 3-4 weeks.
The EBV virus is one of the common viruses infecting a large number of humans across the world. However, EBV infections occur once in a lifetime. The virus goes into the dormant stage after the initial recovery. The antibodies developed against the EBV virus also help in protecting your body from the reoccurrence of an EBV infection. Therefore, the mononucleosis infection can reoccur only when one has weakened immunity. Although the infection has an effective treatment it takes a minimum of 3-4 weeks for the symptoms to completely disappear.
The infection is transmitted by direct contact and saliva. Therefore, the mononucleosis is also called as the ‘kissing disease. It is capable of sexual transmission too. The infection is highly contagious and care is taken while working with a mononucleosis patient.
Symptoms:
Some of the common symptoms an individual with mononucleosis will experience are:
- High fever
- Fatigue
- Sore throat
- Swollen lymph glands
- Abdominal pain
- Malaise
- Tonsillitis
- Nausea and Chills
The symptoms can take up to 4 months to completely disappear.
Diagnosis:
The EBV infection is diagnosed by an initial physical examination and then followed by a mono spot test. The monospot test has to be done to detect the presence of antibodies that are naturally produced by your body in response to an infection. If the antibodies are high in number, mononucleosis is confirmed. In case, the monospot test comes out negative, the EBV test is prescribed. The doctors conduct an EBV test in which your EBV antibodies are detected. The diagnosis is time consuming due to similarity in symptoms with other infections.
Treatment:
There is no specific treatment for mononucleosis but the doctors prescribe corticosteroids and anti-inflammatory drugs to relieve the symptoms. However, the symptoms disappear on their own after a few weeks.
Boosting your immunity by having immunity enhancing food items in your diet prevents the reoccurrence of this disease
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