Could treating mono/glandular fever stop ME ever happening?

[Shell]

Having seen the gut wrenching appeal from candie about her son I have wondered about mono/glandular fever and the whole nine yards of EBV and it's effects.

According to an NHS site glandular fever lasts about 3 weeks and doesn't require treatment.

So I had it twice 6 weeks each time.
So many people get mono and then get something worse like ME that I am wondering why we don't aggressively use antivirals to kick EBV in the butt and maybe prevent the fallout?

The more serious illneses that seem linked to EBV the more I wonder why antivirals aren't mainstream the way antibiotics are.
Anyone know?

 

[vamah]

I hadn't thought about this before, but you have a good point. Doctors always say the only treatment for mono is rest, but that isn't true at all. Even a mild antiviral with few risks or side effects like acyclovir works to some extent against EBV. So why not treat people with it? It is even dirt cheap, so insurance companies wouldn't have a coronary about it like they do with the more expensive antivirals. Anyone with a medical or science background know why they don't do this?

 

[Tammy]

Years ago when my daughter had a bad case of mono........I panicked because I was afraid she would end up like me with CFS.(It's always in the back of my mind) I wasn't really educated at the time about anti-virals and the only info I came across was to use l-lysine...........so I gave her high doses of it...but don't remember how much or for how long. Really good question shell.

 

[August59]

I think they are trialing EBV vaccines mainly because of increasing information about all the cancers that can be tied back to the EBV.

 

[heapsreal]

Cost i think is the main issue with treating these viral illnesses, even chickenpox in adult should be treated with famvir. My cfs started with cmv mono, followed by chickenpox and then ebv mono all within 6 months, i always think if i was treated initially with antivirals would i have got cfs????? They say 10% of people who get mono have prolonged fatigue states that last for months/yrs.

 

[Fuschia]

Is there a vaccine for mono? This question is something I've always wondered, when I mention to people that my M.E. Started with what was probably glandular fever, the look of fear I get sometimes from people who say that mono was the worst illness of their life, it took them a few years to regain their full health and energy back.....Sounds a lot to me like me/cfs lite. Why is there a flu vaccine and not a mono vaccine?

 

[SOC]

Why is there a flu vaccine and not a mono vaccine?

Primarily because the entrenched belief in the medical world is that everyone's immune system can handle EBV, so there's no need for a vaccine. More recent research is calling that assumption into question, but it will be a long time before mainstream medical buys into the idea that EBV and its cohorts can cause serious illness.

 

[Fuschia]

Is mono like the flu in that it's a slightly different strain each time I wonder? I know there's like HHV-6, herpes, EBV etc but could there be sub strains within those? I wonder is the mono people get now maybe more severe than the mono people got twenty years ago, as anecdotally it seems to be, and that more people now are getting their immune systems pushed over the edge into ME CFS. Just a pet theory !

 

[Creekee]

I can vouch for the ancient mono ala 1978 being severe...

 

[heapsreal]

Is mono like the flu in that it's a slightly different strain each time I wonder? I know there's like HHV-6, herpes, EBV etc but could there be sub strains within those? I wonder is the mono people get now maybe more severe than the mono people got twenty years ago, as anecdotally it seems to be, and that more people now are getting their immune systems pushed over the edge into ME CFS. Just a pet theory !

There was something published recently that mentioned a possible different strain of ebv that causes cancer. I dont have a link but it was only in the last few weeks it came out. google search may find it?

 

[herpesbaby]

So after being sick for 5 weeks, I panicked and started taking acyclovir for 5 weeks in mid doses. Then took valtrex in high doses for 6 weeks. After stopping antivirals I feel worse. Hopefully what I'm feeling right now is my immune system taking care of mf mono. Month5 of being sick. Hate it.

 

[herpesbaby]

This freaks me out:


"Available antiviral drugs have no significant effect on the overall outcome of mono and may actually prolong the course of the illness."

Source: http://www.medicinenet.com/infectious_mononucleosis/article.htm

 

[anni66]

Having seen the gut wrenching appeal from candie about her son I have wondered about mono/glandular fever and the whole nine yards of EBV and it's effects.

According to an NHS site glandular fever lasts about 3 weeks and doesn't require treatment.

So I had it twice 6 weeks each time.
So many people get mono and then get something worse like ME that I am wondering why we don't aggressively use antivirals to kick EBV in the butt and maybe prevent the fallout?

The more serious illneses that seem linked to EBV the more I wonder why antivirals aren't mainstream the way antibiotics are.
Anyone know?

Cost. Treatment protocols- if it' s not in the guideline very very few gps/ consultants will think/ go out of the box. For those who don't,' t recover after 3 weeks it would be a sensible option.
Shingles are treated with anti virals, and this is evidence of recurrent herpes virus so i can' t fathom why it' s not available for EBV

 

[TrixieStix]

No, because not everyone who has ME/CFS does so because of EBV. Not everyone has a post-viral onset.