By MARY WILLIAMS
Many BYU students are carriers of the 'kissing disease,' and may be transmitting it to others through close contact.
'Mononucleosis is not found in the environment; it is carried in people. We do not know exactly how it is transmitted except through oral contact -- that's why it's called the kissing disease,' said Virgil J. Parker, a physician at the Missionary Training Center.
Anna Allen, a senior from Provo majoring in history, said she got mono at the same time as a group of her friends.
'And it wasn't because we were kissing ... we might have been sharing drinks, though,' Allen said.
Allen said her doctor told her she needs to be careful because an individual's immune system is less likely to fend off the virus a second time.
'It's kind of like cold sores ... once you get them, they stay in your system, and it's easy to keep getting them,' Parker said.
Most people have come into contact with mono by age 5, Parker said. Parker's daughter had mono when she was just 4 years old.
'Almost everyone has been exposed to mono, but it's most prevalent in the 18 to 21 age group,' Parker said.
Mono is a form of the herpes virus and is accompanied with fever, fatigue, pharangitis (bad sore throat) and swelling of the lymph nodes. Most people will get over these symptoms within two to four weeks.
'Only 1 to 2 percent of mono patients take six months to a year to recover,' Parker said.
Since mono is a virus, caused by the Epstein Barr Virus, there is no specific medication given for recuperation. Parker recommends taking Tylenol and getting plenty of rest.
'In 50 percent of the cases, the patient's spleen swells up, and if they are too active, their spleen could rupture.'
Rob Smith, a mono victim and grad student from Brookhaven, Miss., said he can actually feel his spleen.
'It's enlarged quite a bit, but I've tried to cut down on my activities and get a lot of rest, so I should be fine,' Smith said.
While the spleen may enlarge, the probability of it rupturing is extremely unlikely. In 35 years of practice, Parker said he has never seen this happen.
In very bad cases of mono, prednisone may be prescribed, he said.
'Prednisone helps cut down inflammation of the throat, which will help you breathe better. However, the majority of doctors won't prescribe this because you will recover anyway,' Parker said.
'Mono has an incubation period of one to two months and starts out a week before as malaise,' Parker said.