Routine or Selective Immunization against Infectious Mononucleosis: Which One Is Necessary?

Abstract

Infectious mononucleosis (IM) caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a common benign illness in children all over the world. Most children become exposed to EBV by adolescent age. If a child having X-linked lymphoproliferative (XLP) disease is exposed to EBV, he/she is highly vulnerable to suffer from serious forms of IM such as fulminant hepatic failure, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytic syndrome (HLHS), meningoencephalitis, and many more, and also to develop various types of malignancies including lymphoreticular types. Therefore, to reduce the IM-related mortality and morbidity, either routine screening for Duncan's disease by genetic analysis for SH2D1A followed by prophylactic EBV vaccine only to SH2D1A-positive children or routine administration of prophylactic EBV vaccine to all the children in early infancy is necessary. An effective, successful therapeutic vaccine, if developed in future, might be beneficial for the patients who develop EBV-related malignancy subsequently.

Keywords

Duncan's disease - infectious mononucleosis - Epstein-Barr virus - therapeutic vaccine

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