Disclaimer- I am not a medical professional. All information in this post is solely based on my own research and personal experience. If you would like to know more about this subject or have any kind of medical issue you should contact your Doctor right away.
Did you have Mono also known as “the kissing disease” any time during your life? I had it when I was 17 years old and have since discovered some interesting facts about the disease.
CFS- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
EBV- Ebstein-barr Virus/ Mono
What Is The Mono Virus?
The Ebstein-Barr virus, also known as Mono, is one of the most common human viruses. It is a part of the herpesvirus families and spread through things such as, kissing, sharing drinks, etc.
Symptoms of Mono
- Sore throat
- Swollen lymph nodes
- swollen tonsils
- skin rashes
- fever
- fatigue
- swollen spleen
It is not until the past couple of months since I have been experiencing several “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome flares” that I began to look further into the connection between having Mono and CFS.
One fact I was unaware of, and I don’t believe a lot of patients are told when diagnosed with the Ebstein-barr virus is that it will always remain in your body. The virus attaches some of its DNA to your DNA and remains dormant in your body. However, there are some cases known as “Chronic EBV” where the virus remains active in your body and can be “triggered” or “reactivated” at certain times.
Chronic EBV is considered to be very rare. People who do have this condition can experience the same conditions that Mono causes continuously or in “flare ups”. This can also lead to complications with your immune system and make you more prone to serious infection.
EBV Virus and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
With all of that being said, there are some experts that believe that it is tentatively connected to CFS. These researchers believe that the virus can be reactivated. For a person with a healthy immune system, your body remembers this virus and can easily fight it off again. If this is the case, most people don’t even know their body is going through that. However, if you are someone with a weakened immune system due to other conditions or autoimmune disorders, the virus can return at “full effect” as it did the first time you had it.
Evidence Of the Link Between EBV and CFS
Scientists in 2014 conducted a study that observed the B and T cells of many people who had this disease. It concluded that their bodies were unable to remember this disease making it unable to fight it off. This in turn would result in “reactivation” of the disease. While it is still unclear if EBV can directly be linked to causing CFS, studies have shown that in juveniles and many adolescents who doctors have considered to be not recovered from the virus also fit the criteria for being diagnosed with CFS. They have noticed that the more severe of a case of Mono the patients had, the more likely it was for serious illnesses down the road.
More research still needs to done on this subject as it is still unclear if having EBV could be a cause or linked to CFS. It is hopeful that more research will be done in this subject as it could then be used as criteria to definitively diagnose Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. There is currently no “test” that can diagnose CFS.
If you have suffered from EBV/Mono and know anything more about this subject I would love to hear about it! Drop your comments, questions, and experiences in the comment section below!
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