Things go from bad to worse all the time, and often there’s not much that can be done about it other than to lift your hand to your forehead for the obligatory facepalm. When people get sick it’s usually through no real fault of their own, but usually an ordinary bout of sickness isn’t going to be as much of an ordeal. If it’s mononucleosis, however, it’s going to be one heck of an ordeal and the person is in for a lot of suffering. There’s no way around that, but what if things go from bad to worse and they get viral hepatitis from mononucleosis? 

The possibility of that is what we’re going to look at here with this blog entry, and we can start by saying there is a very real connection between viral hepatitis and mononucleosis. The key ingredient in making it possible for one to lead to the other is Epstein-Barr virus, and if it’s EBV that causes a person to get mono then it creates the environment needed for mono to become viral hepatitis. Epstein-Barr virus is very common but for most people that have it a healthy immune systems is what prevents it from becoming a serious infection.  

Immunology experts will tell you that most people will get EBV at some point in their lives, and also that viral hepatitis from mononucleosis is possible. With EBV most of them will never have any idea they’d contracted the virus, whereas when someone gets mononucleosis it will be basically wreck them for weeks on end. There’ll be no mistaking the fact that they are extremely ill. And if it is Epstein-Barr virus that has caused them to get mono then they may have yet another unpleasant development on the horizon.  

One to Another

If there’s anything to be seen even remotely favorably in all of this it may be that EBV hepatitis is usually fairly mild and will resolve itself before long. That’s provided the person has a strong functioning immune system, and those without one are going to have a tougher and longer go of it. Getting viral hepatitis from mononucleosis is possible, and although the infection may clear more quickly one of the unfortunate realities is that several symptoms of a mono infection can continue into the hepatitis one.  

These include headache, fever, fatigue, night sweats, pink or purple spot rashes, muscle weakness, sore throat, and swollen tonsils. And tolerating these as part of having viral hepatitis is going to be tough considering the person will have already done that with mononucleosis. People with immunosuppression are going to be more at risk from EBV hepatitis from mono, and sometimes that suppressed immune system may be because of medication use. That’s also something to keep in mind if you’re talking to a doctor about viral hepatitis from mononucleosis, and especially if it might be possible for you to switch medications and decrease the chance of getting hep from mono.