Epstein Barr Virus In Children

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Epstein Barr virus in children

Unfortunately, the primary signs of infection with the Epstein Barr virus, unfortunately, practically do not manifest themselves in any way or often look like signs of a common cold. This virus usually enters the human body, often during childhood. The transmission of this tricky infection can occur in a variety of ways - by airborne droplets, sexually, by household contact, and in addition, in the case of a blood transfusion that is infected with this infection or from mother to child. Cases of infection by the latter method are quite frequent.

When a complete infection has occurred (especially when the immune system is severely weakened), there is a high probability that the child will develop a clinic of infectious mononucleosis. For a rather long period of time, this disease was defined as a simple childhood infection. When a child is ill with this disease, in most cases, certain consequences of the virus are characteristic. It is upsetting that doctors face complete recovery in exceptional cases when the infection is completely removed from the body.

There are cases when a child is a carrier of the virus, but no clinical symptoms appear. It is possible to detect the presence of this dangerous virus only in modern laboratory conditions, always with the help of special studies. There is also a rather severe form of infection (chronic) with a diverse clinic, which periodically increases or decreases in its manifestation. It usually progresses over time and in some cases expands.

At the same time, parents of sick children complain of a wide variety of concerns - from swollen lymph nodes to mental disorders. In a younger child, Epstein barr virus infection is stronger and more varied than in older children. Doctors observe a special threat of this virus in the unforeseen blow that is inflicted on them. Thus, this virus can cause long-term processes in organs such as the kidneys, liver, probably with symptoms of chronic infectious mononucleosis.

There is also a temperature in the range of 37.5 ° C for an incredibly long period of time, frequent fungal diseases, pathologies of the nervous and digestive systems. Often there are, including oncological processes in the lymph: cancer of the stomach, oral mucosa, cancer of the colon and small intestine, and many others. In recent years, the Epstein Barr virus has come to be seen as a cause of long-term exhaustion, in other words, chronic fatigue.

Why is the Epstein Barr virus dangerous?

It should be mentioned that the blood cells, lymphocytes, which protect the human body from harmful bacteria and microbes, have special sensors (receptors) that can accept the Epstein Barr virus and even allow it to multiply there. In this case, the lymphocyte cell itself is not destroyed, but is a carrier of the virus throughout the body.

Long-term chronic persistence of the virus results in significant changes in the human bone marrow. In this case, the growth of the virus in cells may be absent for a fairly long period of time.

Such a dangerous Epstein barr virus is mainly transmitted by airborne droplets, in frequent cases with a kiss or when using common utensils. Acute infectious mononucleosis is characterized by severe fever at the onset of the disease, painful enlargement of lymph nodes, enlargement of the spleen and liver, and tonsillitis. In almost every case, the signs of hepatitis are strongly manifested.

Recently, doctors have encountered less and less patients with acute infectious mononucleosis. Statistics show that this disease initially more often passes in a chronic form. With this course of the disease, symptoms manifest themselves in the form of a slight increase in lymph nodes, general weakness, chronic fatigue, a slight headache, minor muscle pain, as well as pain in the abdomen, rare stools, and pneumonia.

In a patient who has had infectious mononucleosis, it is possible to observe a noticeable growth of lymph nodes for several more years, and, as a rule, he can transmit the Epstein barr virus by airborne droplets for about a year and a half.

Parents should pay special attention to the health of a child who has already suffered from infectious mononucleosis, as well as before routine vaccinations. After all, it is the vaccine that can become the activator of this virus. And do not forget that a child who has suffered a disease should be periodically observed by a specialist in order to avoid a repetition of the activity of the virus in the body.

Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist

Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".