EBV - New Hope

How Does EBV Affect People?

Often referred to as the "kissing disease" or glandular fever, mononucleosis has its genesis in the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a form of herpes virus. About 95% of people worldwide have been infected with EBV, although most either don't know it or have not experienced any type of illness serious enough to even remember.

However, EBV does cause some very memorable and often serious diseases. Mononucleosis primarily affects teenagers and young adults with a couple of weeks' worth of symptoms such as:

· Headache

· Vision problems

· Dry eyes or weepy eyes

· Swollen glands

· Weight loss

· Extreme fatigue

· Fever

What Autoimmune Diseases are Connected with EBV?

Often over in less than a month, mono can leave the immune system in a weakened state which may later open the door to an assortment of autoimmune diseases, including:

· Lupus

· Chronic fatigue syndrome

· Fibromyalgia

· Multiple sclerosis

It Gets Worse ...

Additionally, EBV may be responsible for a number of other very serious diseases in addition to those already mentioned.

· Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a tumor of the nasal passages and throat that affects up to two percent of people in southern China as well as those in Southeast Asia, northern Africa and people in the Arctic.

· EBV is also implicated in Hodgkin's disease, a type of cancer that affects the lymph nodes.

· Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease is a tumor often found in patients who have received organ transplants. EBV is charged with being a precursor to this condition because the immune systems of patients receiving transplants are often extremely suppressed in order to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ. This suppression of the immune system allows for EBV to wreak havoc and can lead to lymphoproliferative disease.

· People with AIDS also suffer with reduced immunity and suffer from "oral hairy leukoplakia". This is a condition involving replication of EBV cells along the edge of the tongue.

It remains a mystery why EBV causes a relatively mild disease like glandular fever in some people and malignancies that kill in others. It does seem to be connected to genetics as well as depressed immune systems, both of which can lead to devastating outcomes.

How Was EBV Discovered?

The Epstein-Barr virus was discovered (but not named) in 1961. A surgeon named Denis Burkitt, working in Uganda in 1961 reported his research findings to the staff at Middlesex Hospital Medical School in Britain. His research was regarding the incidence of a certain tumor in African children. His findings were that the cancer was related to a geographic distribution that corresponded to rainfall and temperature patterns. The disease, affecting about 8 in every 100,000 children in parts of Africa and Papua New Guinea, became known as Burkitt's lymphoma.

The climatic influence on the disease seemed to indicate the involvement of a biological factor. Researchers M.A. Epstein, Y.M. Barr, and B.G. Achong, worked together to find possible cancer-causing viruses in samples of a tumor sent from Uganda to Britain. In 1964, using an electron microscope, a previously unknown strain of the herpes family of viruses was discovered. The pathogen was then named for doctors Epstein and Barr - the Epstein-Barr virus.

New Hope From Australia

Fast-forward to today and to Australia where scientists have been working on producing a vaccine. The researchers were able to produce a peptide that tricks the immune system into producing adequate T-cells to fight EBV. Trails on human volunteers have been very successful and those taking part in the cases studies have not developed infectious mononucleosis. More research is going on and it seems as though an effective vaccine will be available soon to prevent EBV and mono. Another vaccine, developed in Brussels, has successfully reduced EBV infections in an 18-month trail.