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The Teen Appeal
The University of Memphis
300 Meeman Journalism Building
Memphis, TN., 38152
(901) 678-4710
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Just this past Valentine’s Day, I was infected with a special kind of love fever, and it ruined my day.
Instead of happily celebrating the day of love with my special someone, I spent it at the doctor’s office. What would be more appropriate for the day of love than to be diagnosed with the kissing disease?
Infectious mononucleosis, or mono, is popularly known as “the kissing disease” because people can only be infected through close contact with the body fluids of someone who is infected with the virus. That means it can be caught by kissing someone on the mouth and swapping spit. But that’s not the only way to catch it. For example, you can catch mono simply by drinking after someone who has the disease. Was my infection caused by its more common name, or did I simply drink after someone?
I will never tell.
I can, however, say that having the kissing disease is not nearly as fun as the name implies. Infectious mononucleosis is an illness caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. It’s a tricky sickness to detect because symptoms often take four to six weeks to develop. You can catch it and pass it along before you even realize you are sick.
Mono is usually most common among people between the ages of 15 and 24. Some people are exposed to mono as a child, however, and avoid the agony caused by the virus if you catch it as a teen.
My first week with mono was marked by a fever between 100 and 104 degrees. I was so sore and weak that I could barely walk, and that was only when I was not sleeping to my heart’s content. After I was finally diagnosed, the tell-tale sign of the sore throat finally developed, along with terrible headaches. The sore throat prevented me from eating or sleeping, so I was given prescription pain killers to get my much needed rest.
I was officially sick enough to miss school for three weeks. This time off may sound like a dream come true for many students, especially seniors, but when there’s nothing to do but lie in bed because of your illness, the idle time and boredom soon develops into depression, another side effect many people face when they fight mono.
The first several weeks after I returned to school were really tough, both physically and emotionally. I had to regain enough strength to climb Ridgeway’s stairs to the third floor, find time in the evening to do regular homework and make-up work and get the rest I needed. I also tried to find some way to regain the 10 pounds I lost and catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. Going back to school almost made me more tired than mono did.
As with everything, though, life moves on. I got better, even though I honestly thought I never would. Even so, I won’t live my life in fear of germs. My advice to teens is to be careful whom they drink after or whom they kiss. Fate might have a case of the kissing disease in store for you.