Maybe the Seattle Mariners are wondering who Ketel Marte has been kissing? Maybe you’re wondering who Ketel Marte is? So you know, he plays shortstop for the Mariners, well, at least he did before he contracted mononucleosis which led me to look up the disease that, frankly, I hadn’t heard much about since I left college a hundred or so years ago.

Much to my surprise, it’s still called the “kissing disease,” mainly because it’s primarily transmitted through saliva. But it’s not just kissing that can result in “mono,” it’s sharing a glass or food utensil, or being around someone coughing and sneezing.

Most often, mono is caused by Epstein-Barr virus. It’s a herpes virus that apparently 95 percent of us have been exposed to. Most of us won’t show any symptoms; however, at least 25 percent of teenagers and young adults (15 to 24 year olds) who get infected with EBV will develop infectious mononucleosis.

“The disease was first described in 1889 and was referred to as “Drusenfieber,” or glandular fever. The term infectious mononucleosis was first used in 1920 when an increased number of lymphocytes were found in the blood of a group of college students who had fever and symptoms of the condition,” Medicinenet.com says.

For the most part, children with EBV will have symptoms more in line with the common cold. But, for older children and young adults the symptoms will start with a general lack of energy, fatigue, loss of appetite and chills. In one to three days a severe sore throat and fever will occur.

“In addition to a fever from 102 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, the most common signs of mono are a very reddened throat and tonsils and swollen lymph nodes in the neck that typically occur on both sides. The tonsils will have a whitish coating in at least one-third of the cases,” according to Medicinenet.

“The spleen (sometimes referred to as the body’s biggest lymph node) is an organ found in the left upper abdomen underneath the rib cage which becomes enlarged or swollen in about half of patients with mono,” they said. The advice for anyone who has or thinks they have mono is to refrain from playing contact sports or participating in any intense exercise for fear of the spleen bursting which would be extremely serious and require surgery.

Medicinenet goes on to say, “An enlarged liver and abnormalities in liver function tests may be detected. Some of the patients have a splotchy red rash over the body, which has a similar appearance to the rash of measles. Early in the course of disease (over the first few days of illness), a temporary swelling of both upper eyelids may appear.”

Blood tests can usually confirm the diagnosis, but these tests rely on the body’s immune system developing EBV antibodies. These may not be detectable until the second or third week of the illness. So, often mono is misdiagnosed as a bacterial infection and antibiotics are administered, and, we all know that they aren’t effective for a virus infection. Antiviral medications haven’t proven to be effective, and although researchers are working on one, there’s no vaccine against EBV.

The best option for treating mono is to treat the symptoms with acetaminophen or ibuprofen for the fever and sore throat. Sometimes a strep infection will occur and that can be treated with an antibiotic.

Patients’ comments at Medicinenet.com mostly complain about the fatigue.

One woman said she slept for the entire month of July. Another, a teen, said that she could sleep 12 hours and wake up feeling exhausted. Medicinenet.com cautions that the feeling of fatigue or tiredness may persist for months following an acute episode of mono.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that Epstein-Barr virus has been associated with some types of cancers, most commonly lymphomas. I won’t go into details about that today.

In conclusion, Medicinenet said, “Infectious mononucleosis is usually a self-limited, although sometimes prolonged, and often uncomfortable illness. While specific treatment is rarely necessary, the potential complications make it essential that people with this illness be under the care of a physician.”

Kathy Hubbard is a member of Bonner General Health Foundation Advisory Council. She can be reached at 264-4029 or kathyleehubbard@yahoo.com.