Myths about Mono

Every virus or a sickness carries with it a certain myth or some misleading opinion that changes the way people think about their ailment. If you have varicose veins, you must be old and a woman. If you have Crohn's disease, you must be contagious. If you have Cirrhosis, you must be an alcoholic. The list could go on and on. Therefore, like every infection, or virus, disease, or disorder, Mononucleosis, popularly known as mono also has its own inventory of myths and false judgments.

Mono is commonly referred to as 'the kissing disease' and often believed to be contracted through kissing. However, while kissing is one way to contract this condition, it is not the only way. Mono can also be caught and spread through other types of close contact with saliva such as sharing a drink, a straw, a utensil or a toothbrush. And it can even be spread by holding or shaking hands. Also sometimes, people may have the virus in their bodies and not know it and still be able to pass it to other people. And some may even get it from people who had the virus a few months ago. Thus, mono is not an illness spread only by kissing rather it is spread in a variety of ways.

Another judgment that people have about mono is that a person suffering from the virus will be sick for several months. But, this isn't true at all. While some may take several months to recover from mono, for others it may take only a few weeks. Usually, with mono, the older you are, the more severe and serious your symptoms are. So, as a toddler may have only a few mild symptoms, a teenager might be in a very serious condition with symptoms such as sore throat, fatigue, and high fever and may take many months to recover, more so than a toddler – which gives way to the other myth that mono is an infection that only affects teenagers. This is a myth because although mono usually occurs in teenagers, it occurs in preschoolers and toddlers as well. Most of time, mono in younger children is harder to detect and they suffer from very mild symptoms from low fever to loss of appetite. But even if they do not have severe symptoms, preschoolers and toddlers do suffer from it, making mono not only a 'teenager's disease' but an illness that affects all ages.