Glandular Fever - How Contagious is it Really?

introduction

Pfeiffer's glandular fever is a contagious infectious disease, also called infectious mononucleosis. The pathogen is the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which belongs to the group of herpes viruses.
These viruses spread mainly through direct contact with saliva, for example when kissing. That is why Pfeiffer's glandular fever is often called "Kiss sickness ", 'Student disease " or "kissing disease " designated.

There are many viruses in the virus, especially during acute illness saliva and can thus be contagious while the infected patient may not yet show any symptoms of the disease. But even weeks to months after the acute illness with Pfeiffer's glandular fever, the viruses can still be in the saliva and be contagious.
The virus remains both in the case of a symptomatic infection (30-60% of cases) with Pfeiffer's glandular fever and in contact with the pathogen without any subsequent symptoms lifelong in the body. Like all herpes viruses, the Epstein-Barr virus reactivated become. This means that it can happen again and again that there are viruses in the saliva with which one can infect other people. This is mostly only relevant if that the body's immune system is suppressed by drugs becomes (e.g. with a HIV infected patient or by immunosuppressive therapy after a Organ transplant). Then the virus can multiply in an uncontrolled manner and is not immediately contained again by the body's immune system.
Up to 98% of people carry the Epstein-Barr virus and are therefore so-called "Carrier ". The reason for this is that the virus remains in the body for life, it can reactivate itself and a person can therefore always be contagious.

Other transmission routes than saliva contact are also possible in Pfeiffer's glandular fever, but they are more of an exception. The virus also spreads via Droplet infection, this means that the pathogens are distributed through the air, as is the case with Talking or when coughing.
In rare cases, one can become infected with the pathogen causing Pfeiffer's glandular fever as part of a transplant or blood transfusion, as the viruses are also present in the blood. However, this form of infection is largely avoided by careful screening procedures in the blood banks for the Epstein-Barr virus.

Incubation Period and Symptoms

The acute illness of Pfeiffer's glandular fever lasts differently. The typical flu-like symptoms usually disappear after a few weeks, but the illness can also take a long time and show symptoms for up to a year.
The term incubation period means the time between infection with a pathogen and the outbreak of the disease. During this time, the viruses multiply in human cells. They then reach the lymphatic tissue (tonsils, lymph nodes, spleen) and other organs via the bloodstream and then cause the typical symptoms of the disease.

In Pfeiffer's glandular fever, the incubation period is particularly long and lasts about two to six weeks, but in some cases the first symptoms can only appear after two months. However, this time is usually difficult to define, as there are often no or only slight symptoms and it is usually not clear when the infection with the pathogen occurred. During this so-called incubation period before symptoms appear, Pfeiffer's glandular fever is already contagious, as the viruses are already multiplying in the body and are contained in the saliva of the sick person.

Read more about the topic here: Incubation period of Pfeiffer's glandular fever

Pfeiffer's glandular fever often manifests itself with high and fluctuating fever attacks, but under certain circumstances it can only lead to general exhaustion, increased tiredness and sore throat, which is often misdiagnosed by doctors as a mild cold.

The symptoms of Epstein-Barr infection are mild in most cases and you may not experience any symptoms. Many patients therefore often do not know that they have already had glandular fever. The Epstein-Barr virus is very contagious even before the first symptoms appear, as it multiplies and survives mainly in certain saliva cells in the oropharynx. Therefore, transmission occurs primarily through the exchange of saliva. In addition, it multiplies in a certain type of white blood cell.

Like all herpes viruses that can infect humans, the virus that causes Pfeiffer's glandular fever remains in the human body for a lifetime. So it cannot be completely removed from the body. Therefore, it is difficult to say how long a person with Epstein-Barr virus will be contagious to others.

It can be said with certainty that people who have been infected for the first time are particularly contagious during the incubation period and in the first few months after the disease. Therefore, infection prophylaxis is important here in order to contain the spread. Above all, this includes avoiding kisses and close cuddling.

Once you have become infected with the virus, it can always happen that it reactivates and is excreted in the saliva, as the virus remains in the body for a lifetime. This mechanism plays a role primarily in the transmission of the virus from parents to young children or infants.

A disease with glandular fever occurs in most cases only once in a lifetime, but it can always be contagious to other people. No precise statement can be made about how high the risk of contagion is in this case and how often someone becomes contagious again in his or her life. What we do know, however, is that over 95 percent of those over 30 years old carry the Epstein-Barr virus. The so-called degree of contamination is very high.

also read: You can recognize Pfeiffer's glandular fever by these symptoms

Duration of Pfeiffer's glandular fever

The Pfeiffer glandular fever is mainly in the so-called incubation period particularly contagious. The incubation period is the period from when you first become infected with the virus until the first symptoms appear. Since the patients often do not yet know that they are carrying the virus at this time, most of the pathogen transmissions occur during this time.

The incubation period for Pfeiffer's glandular fever is usually around two to six weeks. Unlike other infectious diseases, this is quite long.

More about the duration on our site Duration of Pfeiffer's glandular fever

How long has Pfeiffer's glandular fever been contagious?

As soon as one is infected with the Epstein Barr Virus, which causes Pfeiffer's fever, the incubation period begins. This is defined from the time of infection until the onset of the disease. In infectious mononucleosis, this can take one to several weeks. Even though no clinical symptoms are noticeable yet, one is still contagious to the environment in which one is present.

It is transmitted via the highly contagious saliva, which contains a large number of viruses. From the beginning of the incubation period, the sick person is contagious without the people around them knowing that you are infected.
During the illness you are still a source of infection and that for weeks after the Pfeiffer fever has healed. So these periods of unobvious illness are particularly dangerous as clinical symptoms do not deter others.

Overall, Pfeiffer's glandular fever is a highly contagious disease from the time of infection to several weeks. That is why at the age of 40 almost everyone has been infected with the virus at least once in their life.

Can you contract Pfeiffer's glandular fever more than once?

Infection with the virus occurs once in people with a healthy immune system. The virus then infects and persists in a person's B lymphocytes. However, the immune system controls the virus so that it cannot multiply and break out.

In rare cases, for example with severe immune deficiency, there may be a renewed outbreak in the form of Pfeiffer's glandular fever or as oral hairy leukoplakia, the whitish, non-peelable coatings on the edges of the tongue. In addition, very rarely a chronic active form can develop in which the symptoms of the disease last longer than three months.

Can you protect yourself from infection?

Pfeiffer's glandular fever is asymptomatic in many people. Antibodies against the Epstein-Barr virus are detectable in the blood of over 30 year olds in over 98% of cases. This means that it is actually not possible to protect yourself from infection. However, normal interpersonal contact does not represent a particular risk factor for infection.

You cannot see or tell whether a person is carrying the virus and is currently contagious. All virus carriers are potentially contagious, but you are not permanently contagious. Up to a few weeks after the Pfeiffer's glandular fever illness, the person affected can still transmit the disease. Because the virus can be reactivated again and again in spurts, there may be later a risk of infection again in phases.

The acutely ill patient should socialize as little as possible (sports groups, school classes, workplace) in order to protect his fellow human beings from infection with Pfeiffer's glandular fever. Exercise should also be avoided for a while in order not to damage the internal organs that are exposed to greater stress when infected with the virus, such as the spleen.

There is currently no vaccination against the pathogen causing Pfeiffer's glandular fever, but it is currently in the clinical trial stage.

As a rule, a person suffers from Pfeiffer's glandular fever only once in the course of his life; in the vast majority of cases, those affected are immune after having been infected with Pfeiffer's glandular fever and do not get the disease a second time. This is made possible by the body's own immune system, which produces antibodies and so-called "Memory cells " trains with which it can recognize the pathogen again and again and then inactivate it.
It is particularly important for people with immunodeficiency (e.g. after an organ transplant) to avoid contact with those affected, as they are particularly at risk of developing a severe course of Pfeiffer's glandular fever.
In people with an intact immune system, Pfeiffer's glandular fever is only very rarely dangerous; the disease is usually relatively mild.

Is kissing prohibited?

If the partner has an acute Glandular Fever infection, mouth-to-mouth contact should usually not take place while symptoms of the disease are still present. This usually takes 2-5 weeks, but to be on the safe side, you should discuss with the treating doctor whether there is really no acute risk of infection.

The best protection against infection with Pfeiffer's glandular fever is to avoid contact with infectious and symptomatic people (so-called exposure prophylaxis) and to kiss them as little as possible. Sharing glasses or cutlery can also lead to saliva contact and thus to transmission.
It is also conceivable that there is a risk of infection during sexual intercourse, as the viruses are also located in the mucous membrane cells of the genital area. Avoiding such contacts can also provide protection against infection with Pfeiffer's glandular fever.
There is also only a risk of infection when kissing if you have never infected yourself with the virus and have not yet had Pfeiffer's glandular fever.

Contagion during pregnancy

Most women of childbearing age have already overcome an EBV infection that went asymptomatic and therefore went unnoticed. For this reason, a first infection with Pfeiffer's glandular fever is very rare during pregnancy. It is believed that a first infection during pregnancy is associated with an increased likelihood of miscarriages or deformities.

However, if the mother has already gone through EBV infection, she transfers her protection from the virus to the newborn as well. However, this protection only lasts about the first six months of the baby's life, after this period the baby can theoretically be infected with Pfeiffer's glandular fever.
The infection often goes unnoticed in small children, but if fever, sore throat and swollen lymph nodes are observed on the neck for more than three days, Pfeiffer's glandular fever may be present and a pediatrician should be contacted.

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Risk of infection in the baby

When it comes to babies, it is believed that a mother's first infection during pregnancy may be associated with a higher risk of miscarriage or deformity of the fetus. Since most mothers have contracted Pfeiffer's glandular fever before birth and have then formed antibodies, they can transmit these to their newborns and thus provide protection against the Epstein-Barr virus for the first one to six months of life. Therefore, babies usually do not develop glandular fever during this period.

It is known that people who have contracted Pfeiffer's glandular fever once in their life can always be contagious. Thus, of course, there is also the risk in early childhood that parents or other people, for example, infect small children with the virus, because the nest protection described above usually only lasts for about four to six months.

When a baby or even a toddler is infected with the Epstein-Barr virus, it is often difficult to recognize Pfeiffer's glandular fever, as it is difficult to differentiate it from other infectious diseases, because in most cases only very unspecific symptoms appear in small children on. Even a baby is naturally contagious to other people for a longer period of time after being infected with the virus. Therefore, close contact with other children should be avoided in the initial period after infection.

Read more on the topic: Glandular fever in babies

How contagious is glandular glandular fever to a child / baby?

Pfeiffer's glandular fever is a highly contagious virus that is transmitted via saliva. If a family member is infected, a baby or toddler can also get sick very quickly.

In everyday life, this happens easily through sharing glasses, cutlery or crockery. Even if an adult supposedly wants to clean a baby's pacifier in their own mouth for protection, the risk of infection is high. Fortunately, however, the clinical course of infection in children is usually not symptomatic.

Is Pfeiffer's glandular fever contagious for animals?

Pfeiffer's glandular fever is transmitted by the Epstein Barr Virus - also known as Human Herpes Virus 4. It is the first virus that has been shown to be carcinogenic, i.e. it can be carcinogenic.

At first it was assumed that mainly humans and primates are affected by the virus. There are now clinical studies investigating whether certain types of cancer in animals are caused by the EBV. However, an outbreak of classic Pfeiffer's glandular fever in animals cannot be assumed.