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Mononucleosis: symptoms, treatment
Last reviewed: 07.07.2025

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Mononucleosis is an acute viral disease, which you may also encounter under the name “Filatov’s disease”, caused by the Epstein-Barr virus.
Although many have never heard of this disease, almost every adult has had it in childhood. Children aged three to fifteen are most susceptible to mononucleosis. The virus is transmitted through close physical contact: kissing, when several people use the same dishes. In other cases, infection is impossible, since the Epstein-Barr virus is too unstable and dies in an unfavorable environment.
Mononucleosis: symptoms
The visible symptoms of this disease are elevated body temperature, enlarged lymph nodes, redness and inflammation of the throat. Visually unnoticeable symptoms include a slight enlargement of the spleen, and less often, the liver. This is how the human body reacts to the appearance of foreign mononuclear cells in the blood (which is why the disease got its name).
The main symptoms of mononucleosis are similar to other infectious diseases: general weakness, malaise, heaviness in the legs, a sharp increase in temperature to 38-39 degrees, inflammation of the lymph nodes in the neck and back, pain and redness in the throat. If you play sports and do not reduce physical activity during the illness, you will be able to trace an enlarged liver or spleen, muscle pain.
Because mononucleosis most often manifests itself in adolescence, it is also called the "student disease" or "kissing disease." In people over forty, the body produces protective antibodies that prevent the proliferation of foreign cells.
Mononucleosis is a fairly harmless disease, but if you do not pay attention to treatment, it can cause serious complications. The fact is that along with mononucleosis, colds usually occur in parallel, which can develop into chronic bronchitis, pneumonia. The virus that causes mononucleosis weakens the immune system, and the body is unable to resist infectious diseases.
How is mononucleosis treated?
Treatment of mononucleosis is not complicated or specific: patients are recommended to stay in bed for one or two weeks, drink warm drinks in large quantities, and refrain from fatty and heavy foods in order to relieve the liver. If you have a sore throat, gargling with soda diluted in warm water or antiseptic lozenges will help. If the temperature remains elevated for more than three or four days, take antipyretics based on paracetamol. You can also try to bring down the temperature using folk methods: warm tea or herbal decoction, bed rest, and regularly airing the room. Do not forget that the immune system is weakened and take vitamins, echinacea tincture.
If mononucleosis has led to complications: tonsillitis, pneumonia, severe inflammation of the lymph nodes, then do not delay a visit to the doctor. In case of bacterial complications, the specialist will prescribe a course of antibiotics and prescribe special treatment based on the tests.