Being merciful with your words may harm your child!

The little girl had a high fever for a week and was sent to the hospital for examination. It turned out that her parents did not pay attention to hygiene issues when taking care of her, and she was infected with the "kiss virus" through saliva. This is the plot of a recent hit TV series.

But this is not just a plot in TV dramas. The "kiss virus" is mainly transmitted through saliva and droplets. In real life, many parents with children have similar problems, such as tasting a bite of food before feeding their babies, looking at the baby's chubby face, and can't help but kiss it...

These behaviors may lead to infection with the "kissing virus", so can the infection with the "kissing virus" be cured? Don't worry, let's first take a look at what the "kissing virus" is.

0 1

The "kissing virus," a herpes virus

The "kissing virus" is the Epstein-Barr virus, a human herpes virus.

Schematic diagram of EB virus structure Source: Sina Weibo

The EB virus is mainly transmitted through saliva and droplets, and can also be transmitted through blood. It is carried by more than 90% of adults.

After the virus enters the human body, it can proliferate in the epithelial cells of the oropharynx. The epithelial cells release the virus and infect local B lymphocytes (a major cell in the immune system). The B lymphocytes enter the blood circulation, causing systemic infection and can remain latent in the human lymphatic tissue for a long time.

EB virus infection and its pathogenic mechanism Source: Digital Beijing Science Center

After infection, patients will experience varying degrees of throat discomfort, repeated fever, sore throat, swollen tonsils, cough, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, and fatigue, which are similar to the symptoms of common colds and flu, and are easily misdiagnosed as common colds and fevers. The little girl in the play was mistaken by her parents as having a common fever, but in fact she was infected with the Epstein-Barr virus.

In addition, a small number of patients will show symptoms such as swollen eyelids, swollen neck, and rash, which can easily be mistaken for nephritis or hyperthyroidism, scarlet fever, measles, etc. If a child shows the above symptoms, attention should be paid to avoid misdiagnosis.

02

Can the "kissing virus" be cured?

There is currently no vaccine to treat EB virus. Most patients can recover on their own and only need to take symptomatic treatments such as rest, antipyretic, sedative, and liver protection.

In addition to the above-mentioned symptoms such as sore throat and repeated fever, due to the combined effects of genetic factors, bad eating habits and other factors, EB virus infection may also cause the following diseases:

1. Infectious mononucleosis

The disease can heal itself, usually without sequelae. It is common in preschool and school-age children, with symptoms such as fever, pharyngitis, swollen cervical lymph nodes, liver and spleen enlargement. According to surveys, 90% of children aged 3-5 have been infected with the EB virus, which also causes this benign disease.

2. Tumor

EB virus is also related to nasopharyngeal carcinoma and lymphoma. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma caused by EB virus is more common in people over 40 years old, and is highly prevalent in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Taiwan in my country. It is a malignant tumor that occurs in the nasopharyngeal mucosal epithelium. Most patients are over 40 years old, with a 5-year survival rate of about 50%. Local recurrence and distant metastasis are the main causes of death for patients. The Burkitt lymphoma caused by EB virus is more common in children around 6 years old in Africa.

3. Chronic active EBV infection

Patients present with persistent high virus concentrations, frequently triggering symptoms similar to infectious mononucleosis, accompanied by systemic symptoms such as generalized lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, hepatitis, thrombocytopenia, and extreme allergies. This symptom is relatively rare and has a very poor prognosis. The mortality rate of untreated patients is 100%, and some patients require allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to be cured.

03

How to prevent the “kissing virus”?

Children under 5 years old have a high level of initial B cells in their oropharyngeal tonsils, which provides a good invasion pathway for the EB virus. This is why children are more susceptible to EB virus infection than adults.

To prevent children from being invaded by the "kiss virus", you need to pay attention to the following aspects:

1. Do not try your baby's bottle, tableware or food with your mouth, and do not feed the baby mouth-to-mouth to avoid food carrying germs into the baby's mouth.

2. Don’t wash your face, hands, or change clothes when you get home from outside, and don’t hug your child. Before taking care of your child, be sure to wash your hands and develop good hygiene habits.

3. Try to avoid contact between the newborn and outsiders, such as kissing the cheek, hugging the infant intimately, etc. Try to avoid going to places with dense crowds and closed spaces.

4. Improve children's own immunity. Vaccinate infants and young children against chickenpox, influenza and other diseases on time to prevent related diseases; strengthen children's physical exercise and enhance their physical fitness.

END

Source: Digital Beijing Science Center, Science Popularization China

China Science Expo, Xinhua News Agency

Compiled by: Dang Min

Editor: Guru