Epstein-Barr virus-associated infectious mononucleosis in Chinese children

Background. According to seroprevalence studies the majority of children in Hong Kong are infected by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) before 10 years of age, but the characteristics of EBV-associated infectious mononucleosis (IM) in Chinese children are largely unreported. This study aims at defining the clinical presentation and complications of Chinese childhood IM in relation to age of the children. Methods. A retrospective study was performed on 77 consecutive Chinese childhood IM patients who fulfilled the serologic criteria for the diagnosis of primary EBV infection (viral capsid antigen IgM + viral capsid antigen IgG+ Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-). The clinical, hematologic and biochemical findings were evaluated among four age groups of