title: Clinical and laboratory presentation of EBV positive infectious mononucleosis in young adults.
abstract: Clinical descriptions of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positive infectious mononucleosis (IM) are rare and their results are inconsistent. Over a 4-year period, we prospectively studied 590 young adults with clinically suspected IM, all of whom were tested for the presence of EBV IgM antibodies. We investigated the demographical, clinical and laboratory features of subjects with positive EBV IgM serology and heterophile antibodies. Contrary to previous studies, we found a seasonal disease pattern with a peak incidence during summer months, and a lower-than-expected prevalence of lymphadenopathy (88.9%), leucocytosis (46.2%), atypical lymphocytosis (89.2%) and elevated liver enzymes (57.9%). The prevalence of hyperbilirubinemia was relatively high (14.9%). The classic triad of fever, sore throat and lymph-adenopathy had relatively low sensitivity (68.2%) and specificity (41.9%) for EBV infection. Our study provides a complete and updated description of the clinical and laboratory presentation of laboratory confirmed IM, which is important for both clinicians and epidemiologists.
authors.affiliation: Israel Defense Force Medical Corps, 19 Izmargad Street, Hod Hasharon 45045, Israel.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grotto
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mimouni
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huerta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mimouni
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Robin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pitlik
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D006932:Hyperbilirubinemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D015994:Incidence; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D007964:Leukocytosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008206:Lymphatic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D008218:Lymphocytosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral