Treatment And Prognosis
Mononucleosis, mono or the ‘kissing disease’ does not require any specific treatment, as it tends to resolve on its own.
The most common advice given to patients is to take bed rest and consume plenty of fluids. When the patient reaches a near - normal state they are advised to resume daily activities on a slower scale. It may however, be wise for these patients to avoid contact sport of any kind, for a while.
Sore throat in these patients can be taken care of by gargling with saltwater and by the administration of aspirin. It is important to take cool and bland foods such as fruit juices and milkshakes.
The fever, pain and the swollen glands can be treated with acetaminophen and ibuprofen.
In severe cases corticosteroids may be prescribed. An accompanying strepto infection may be treated using antibiotics such as penicillin or erythromycin.
Antibiotics such as ampicillin and amoxycillin should be administered with restraint as very often people are known to develop allergies to these drugs.
Other anti viral drugs have very little effect in treating mono. Some work is being carried out on the antiviral drug Valomaciclovir which some researchers believe would aid patients to recover faster.
Affected persons usually recover in about two months time but those who are severely affected will take nearly six months to recover.
The disease may recur in some after a while but it would never be as severe as when it first appeared.
The following symptoms require immediate medical attention:-
- Cough accompanied by breathing difficulty
- Severe abdominal pain / ear pain
- Pallor, sinus complications and persistent fever
- Difficulty in swallowing and sleeping
