Mono in Children

Many parents believe that mono is an adult disease and are shocked when they receive a mono diagnosis in a young child. It tends to be more common in older teens and young adults in developed countries, but anyone of any age can get Infectious Mononucleosis. In poorer countries, it's not uncommon to see mono in children as young as two- or three-years-old.

What is Mono?

Mono is an illness caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a virus from the herpes virus family. The virus causes an increase in a certain type of white blood cell called lymphocytes in the bloodstream. Symptoms of the infection include a sore throat, malaise, fever and fatigue.

According to American statistics, most people (up to 95 percent) have EBV antibodies in their blood between the ages of 35 to 40. This means that the average person has been infected with EBV at some point in their live. An EBV infection causes the immune system to produce antibodies to fight the virus and these antibodies can be detected through blood tests of infected persons.

Specific Symptoms But Still Confusing

Mono has very specific symptoms in all those infected. The symptoms include feeling extremely tired, about two weeks of a fever and a very sore throat. Sometimes there's a full body rash. Often there are enlarged glands in the neck region. Occasionally swelling around the eyes occurs.

Children with mono often have large tonsils that typically look whitish and as many as 50 percent of infected children can also develop and enlarged spleen.

Even though these symptoms are very specific, often parents and sometimes doctors will simply diagnose the child with a severe cold. As a parent, it is your right and responsibility to push for more testing if you suspect your child has mono. Often special treatment isn't required since the body will, if adequately hydrated, heal itself although the child may be incredibly tired for one or two months.

How Is it Spread?

Mono has long been known as the Kissing Disease since the virus is spread through the saliva. This is why it can be more common to see during the late teens and early adulthood. It's another reason why parents can be stunned to discover their child has mono. After all, no young child will be doing any French Kissing. But mono can be spread in other ways as well. It simply requires an exchange of saliva. And saliva exchanges can happen with something as simple as sharing utensils for food. Young children chewing on the same toys can also spread the virus. So can sharing foods and drinks since the EBV can live for several hours in saliva outside the body.