Clinical features and laboratory findings in children hospitalized with acute Epstein-Barr virus infection: a crosssectional study in a tertiary care hospital

Özet

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is widespread all over the world. It causes infectiousmononucleosis (IM) mostly in adolescents and adults. Although IM isconsidered to be rare in younger children and infants, acute EBV infectionmay have various manifestations in this age group. We aimed to describe theclinical features and laboratory findings of children hospitalized with acuteEBV infection. All children hospitalized at Dr. Behçet Uz Children’s Hospital,between January 2010 and January 2017, who tested positive by presence ofEBV-specific antibodies and had the diagnosis of acute EBV infection, wereincluded (n=66). Thirty four of the patients (51.5%) were under 6 years ofage, and 23 (34.8%) children were below 3 years of age. The most commonphysical finding was fever (92.4%) followed by cervical lymphadenopathy andtonsillopharyngitis. Leukocytosis (65.1%) and lymphocytosis (42.4%) werethe most common laboratory findings. Reactive and atypical lymphocyteswere present in 77.2% of the patients. Fifty-three (80.3%) of the patientshad a doctor visit before hospitalization, and the ratio of patients usingantibiotics was 77.3%. Skin rash was observed in 14 (27.4%) of the patientswho used antibiotic treatment and in 2 (13.3%) of the patients who did not(p>0.05). EBV infection resulting in admission to hospital is common inyounger children, even in pre-school period. Serological tests for EBV specificantibody responses and peripheral blood smear evaluation are importantdiagnostic tools. In addition, rapid streptococcal antigen test and throatculture should be performed in patients presenting with tonsillopharyngitis inorder to exclude Group A beta-hemolytic streptococci and reduce unnecessaryantibiotic consumption.