Evaluation of Clinical and Laboratory Data of Pediatric Patients Diagnosed with Infectious Mononucleosis

Aim: In childhood, infectious mononucleosis cases caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are seen with high frequency. The signs and symptoms of acute EBV infection can manifest with different clinical pictures. Care should be taken in differential diagnosis for correct treatment. In our study, it was aimed to examine the clinical presentation of acute EBV infections by age and high-risk age groups among children.

Patients and Methods: A total of 337 pediatric patients with infectious mononucleosis who applied to our tertiary hospital in 2013-2020 were included in the study. EBV VCA IgM and IgG antibodies were studied by ELISA method (quantitative microplate ELISA, Euroimmun®, Germany) in accordance with company recommendations. Patient information and results were evaluated retrospectively.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 5.1 ± 3.4 years. 22.8% of the patients were in the group of 0-2, 43.0% of them were 3-5, 29.7% of them were 6-12, and 4.5% of them were 12 years old and above. The most common signs or symptoms in children diagnosed with acute EBV infection were lymphadenopathy (59.6%), lymphocytosis (45.1%), fever (40.9%), swelling in the throat (39.2%) and pharyngitis (30.0%). Fever complaints were significantly higher between the ages of 3-5 compared to other age groups. The seasonal distribution of the cases was similar. It was determined that the cases increased over the years and the most cases were seen in 2019 (23.4%). It was observed that the time between the start of complaints and the application to the hospital increased directly proportional to age groups.

Conclusion: In our study, it was concluded that there was no difference in acute EBV infection in childhood age groups in terms of signs and symptoms, and the number of cases increased slightly over the years, especially in children with lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly and hepatomegaly.