Abstract
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific antibody responses were determined in 43 consecutive pediatric patients who had signs and symptoms of infectious mononucleosis (IM) and positive diagnostic tests for mononucleosis (Monospot). Patients (30) gave clear-cut serologic evidence of primary EBV infections; of the remaining 13 patients, 7 had no antibodies to EBV in the acute- or convalescent-phase sera and 6 showed serologic patterns of past EBV infections. Further testing proved that the initial Monospot results were either false-positive or were incorrectly interpreted in all 13 patients with unidentifiable illnesses but in only 2 of the patients with current EBV infections. The data confirm the occurrence of classical IM in children and show that the disease and the EBV-specific antibody responses can be virtually indistinguishable from adult cases.

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