![]() ![]() The most telling sign of this period is a feeling of fatigue. Often, a person may go through the prodrome phase without showing any symptoms at all. The prodrome stage can last from a few days to one or two weeks. It may take four to six weeks after the initial contact for symptoms to show up, making it very difficult to know when the mono-infection began. The first stage of mono is when symptoms first begin to appear. In each stage, the infection can cause different symptoms and health concerns for each affected person. Infectious mononucleosis generally has three noticeable stages. If the virus reactivates at some point in your life, you may notice some common symptoms of infectious mononucleosis symptoms, including:Ĭoncerned about mono? Chat with a medical provider using K Health. Most people who contract mono, especially at a young age, often don’t even realize that they have it and will carry the virus in their bodies for the rest of their lives, where it remains dormant and doesn’t cause any symptoms. Other situations where mono can be transmitted, though far more rarely, include blood transfusions and organ transplants. It can also be passed on through other bodily fluids such as blood, semen, and breast milk, though this is a less common transmission mode. If someone with mono shares these items with others, it is possible that the disease would be passed on to them. Since the virus is transmitted through saliva, contact with items containing saliva such as toothbrushes, utensils, and cigarettes would put others at risk of contracting it. While anyone can get it, it is most common in children, young adults, and college students.Ī first-time infection is less common in adults over the age of 40, though many older people acquired it when they were younger, and the virus may now be present, inactive, in their body. Mono is also called ‘the kissing disease’ because it is transmitted from person to person through saliva, such as when kissing. Infectious mononucleosis is most often caused by a virus of the herpes family called Epstein-Barr, but a small percentage of mono cases can be caused by other viruses. We’ll also discuss the three different stages of mono and characterize them to help guide your recovery and prevent you from infecting others. In this article, we’ll look at the main causes and symptoms of infectious mononucleosis to help you determine whether you have contracted it. ![]() If you have recently been diagnosed with mono or suspect that you might have caught it from someone, then determining which stage of mono you’re in will help you determine whether you might be contagious to others. Mono usually comes in three phases, and each one can impact individuals differently. Hey, no one said mono was fun.Infectious mononucleosis, or mono, is a contagious disease that many people contract at some point in their life. So make sure to let your teachers know what's going on so they can be more understanding about your workload and responsibilities in class, skip after school activities and sports practice, and stay in at night. Mono can linger for about a month, and your best defense is plenty of rest and lots of fluids to give your body the best chance of fighting off the infection. It'll go away on its own, just like a cold, but it will probably take a little longer than you'd like. Hence the virus's popularity at colleges-close quarters give you all the more opportunity to get sick. Even reaching into a communal bowl of chips can lead to trouble. Now that you feel absolutely awful, who can you be mad at for getting you this way?ĭespite the whole "kissing disease" thing, you can catch mono just by drinking from another person's glass, using their fork, and getting coughed or sneezed on by someone who has it. But while there's no cure for mono, these side effects can often be taken care of with antibiotics as well as over-the-counter medicine. And if that doesn't sound exciting enough, you're also incredibly susceptible to getting the painful bacterial infection strep throat. You'll likely get a sore throat, stuffy nose, swollen glands, headache, and fever. Your body's got to handle that on its own. Unfortunately, because mono is a viral infection (like the common cold) and not a bacterial infection (like pink eye), there isn't any medication your doc can prescribe to make it go away. These can sometimes lead to a false negative, so if your results are clean but you still feel crappy a week later, your doctor may want to do a more extensive test where they draw blood and look for Epstein-Barr virus antibodies-a sure sign that your body is battling the virus. Your doctor can do something called a monospot test where they prick your finger and analyze a drop of blood within a few minutes. ![]()
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