The Kissing Disease

First Scene: You get out of your classroom excited to see your significant other. You see her waiting for you by the door. You smile and walk towards her. You share how boring the subject was as you walk through the corridor. She sees an empty table as you pass by the student lounge and decides to loiter a bit. You continue on talking. You laugh at her jokes and listen to her rant about her day. Unable to stop yourself, you move a little closer to her, poising for the kill. She smiles. She understands. You go for it. You kiss her.

Next scene: You wake up and feel a swelling in your throat. You don’t feel good. You walk towards your mirror. You see yourself not in good condition. You feel your muscles ache, all cranked up and fatigued from something you can’t remember on doing. You wash up. You feel you’re getting something, the flu or something close to it. You think it might be just the typical fever. Yet, there’s something very wrong about how you feel. You have no appetite. Your morning is all messed up. As you go to school, you remember you have a clinic. You decide to visit. Inside the clinic, the doctor examines you. When you comment that you feel your throat is sore, she takes a swab of cotton and checks your mouth with it. She analyzes it using hi-tech stuff you don’t even recognize. Then, she makes a series of blood tests. You wait for the verdict. She faces you and announces that you have Infectious Mononucleosis. Infectious Mononucleosis? What the heck is that?

Perhaps, you are wondering how the two scenes are connected. Perhaps, you are even wondering what this “Infectious Mononucleosis” is. Yes, what the heck is it.

Okay. Infectious Mononucleosis, “mono” for short, is an infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. One way to catch mono is by kissing someone who has been infected by such a virus, thus, the nickname, “kissing disease.” Other ways of getting the virus would be direct contact with saliva of someone who has been infected by it, such as the sharing of spoons and straws.

Mononucleosis is characterized by constant fatigue, sore throat, high fever, loss of appetite, swollen glands in your neck, headaches, and constantly being tired. These signs may be mistaken for that of the flu or sore throat. Thus, people often treat mono the way they treat flu or sore throat. This would not help, though, because there is no known cure for mononucleosis.

Doctors would advise bed rests, and to take in plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. It might do well for you to skip sports and other activities to avoid sharing the virus and the symptoms you have would have tired you anyway.
Fortunately, in 3 to 4 weeks time the illness will go away by itself. But, once you have been infected by the virus, it will stay with you for life. Hopefully, you wouldn’t worry about getting the same symptoms all over again once you’ve shown it before.

To prevent this from ever happening to you or to avoid it from spreading if you already have it, you should observe proper hygiene. Don’t share your utensils with others even though sharing it would be romantic or, in a sick way, generous. And if you kiss, make sure to ask your partner if he or she has the Epstein-Barr virus. If you don’t care though, go on right ahead and do your thing.