Mononucleosis

The Epstein-Barr virus, which is responsible for causing mononucleosis, can be adorable... in plush form ;-) Just take a look to the left!

I came down with a case of it about 14 years ago. At first the student health clinic misdiagnosed me with strep throat (as a very sore throat and fever are symptoms of both diseases), and prescribed me a hefty dose of amoxicillin for it. A day or two later, I developed a rash all over my body, and concluded that I was allergic to amoxicillin. When I didn't get better, they examined me again and discovered I actually had mononucleosis! It took about a week or two to recover, and they explained that once you've got it, you always carry it. On the plus side, it means I'll never get it again. On the down side, nobody really knows how long you're actually contagious for, or if the virus takes dormant/active forms periodically during my life, rendering me contagious when it's "active"? Who knows.

Fast forward a few years and my then-boyfriend came down with a case of it. It had been about 3-4 years since I recovered, and we wondered if I had been the one who infected him. Again with the unknown.

Fast forward even more years to last week, when Todd came down with a fever that just would not go away. After several days of it, I took him to one of the pediatricians at Children's Medical Center, who suspected strep throat... except the swab she took came back negative. When a week had gone by and he still had a fever, I again returned to the clinic, this time visiting a different doctor, who suspected mono and conducted his exam accordingly. Took a quick blood test, which confirmed that Todd did indeed have mono (when I told Allan about it later, he immediately pointed an accusing finger at me :-P).

It was at this point that I mentioned to the doctor about how I had been given amoxicillin when I had mono, which is when I learned that I was mildly allergic to it. He paused a moment, and then told me: "No, you're probably not allergic. When people who have mono take amoxicillin, they develop a rash, and often *think* they are allergic, but it's the mono + amoxicillin". That was news to me. I didn't know you weren't supposed to mix the two, and that if you did have a bacterial infection alongside the mono, you should be prescribed something like erythromycin, and not a -cillin family antibiotic. And when I thought about it, it made sense. Most drug allergies manifest themselves in the form of anaphylaxis, or hives, or swelling. I had none of those. The rash I had did not itch. And considering the dosage I was on was really high (500mg, 3x a day, if I recall correctly), you would think a true allergy, even a mild one, would show more severe symptoms than an all-body, non-itching rash.

Anyway, I learned something new that day. The symptoms of strep throat and mono are similar, and if you ever find yourself with a really sore throat and persistent fever that just wipes you out, make sure it isn't mono you have before starting on antibiotics! And if you must have mono or any other kind of disease... better to have the plush kind :-D