The levels of liver enzymes and atypical lymphocytes are higher in youth patients with infectious mononucleosis than in preschool children.
OBJECTIVE
Infectious mononucleosis (IM) is the clinical presentation of primary infection with Epstein-Barr virus. Although the literature contains a massive amount of information on IM, most of this is related specifically to only children or adults separately. In order to distinguish any differences between preschool children and youth patients, we retrospectively analyzed their demographic and clinical features.


METHODS
Records of patients hospitalized from December 2001 to September 2011 with a diagnosis of IM were retrieved from Peking University First Hospital, which is a tertiary teaching hospital in Beijing. The demographic data and clinical characteristics were collected.


RESULTS
IM was diagnosed in 287 patients during this 10-year period, with incidence peaks among preschool children (≤7 years old, 130/287, 45.3%) and youth patients (>15 and <24 years old, 101/287, 35.2%). Although the complaints at admission did not differ between these two patient groups, the incidence of clinical signs (tonsillopharyngitis, lymphadenopathy, hepatomegaly, and edema of the eyelids) was much higher in preschool children. The incidence of liver lesion and percentage of atypical lymphocytes were significantly higher in the youth group (P<0.001), and the average hospital stay was longer in this group. Pneumonia was the most common complication, and there was no case of mortality.


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of IM peaks among preschool children and youth patients in Beijing, China. The levels of liver enzymes and atypical lymphocytes increase with age.
Department of Infectious Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China.
Yan
Y
Wang
Department of Infectious Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China.
Jun
J
Li
Department of Infectious Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China.
Yuan-Yuan
YY
Ren
Department of Infectious Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China.
Hong
H
Zhao
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003710:Demography; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000097:blood
D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase
Epstein-Barr virus; Infectious mononucleosis; Preschool children; Youth