'Kissing disease' puts woman in Taichung emergency room

The woman was sent to the emergency room of Taichung Tzu Chi General Hospital after developing severe stomach pains.

Doctors found she had an enlarged liver, and her liver function test was 20 times the normal level, leading to a diagnosis of mononucleosis, said Liao Wei-chih, an infectious disease specialist at Taichung Tzu Chi General Hospital.

The disease, which is also known as “kissing disease” because the infection is spread through saliva, is so common that nearly 90 percent of adults have been infected at some time in their lives and become a carrier, Liao said.

According to a nationwide survey, more than 80 percent of children in Taiwan are exposed to it before reaching puberty, he said.

Liao said many healthy people carry the virus without showing any symptoms, and that symptoms were likely triggered in the patient due to stress and fatigue.

He said there was no need to panic since most people recover from the disease on their own. But he recommended that people see a doctor if one develops a fever for more than a week or has a persistent sore throat.

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	Su sets 3 targets for the new Cabinet

NEXT ARTICLE
H1N1 virus not detected in local animals: council

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit