Mono how contagous is it ?!
Question:
Mono how contagous is it ?
I have a nephew that recently has been diagnosed with mono and wants to come and visit , he is 9 yrs. old . We have two children 7 & 9 yrs. that are very actice in sports and other things. the mother says not to worrry its not that contagous , but I'm worried about my kids getting it.
Answers:
Mono, or mononucleosis, is spread through direct contact with saliva. This includes sharing eating utensils or drinks. Because it takes about 30 to 50 days for symptoms to appear, a person who's infected can spread the virus without even knowing it. Though no one really knows exactly how long it takes after infection with the virus for a person to become contagious, it's pretty safe to say that a person is most contagious from right before their symptoms start until they go away.
People who have already been infected with the virus that causes mono — Epstein-Barr virus or EBV — will develop immunity that protects them from further infection. An estimated 95% of adults have been infected with EBV and 50% of children are infected before age 5. So you may very well have already had mono and not known it.
By the way - the above poster is wrong. You cannot get Mono from breathing the same air. You get it from direct contact with the saliva (straws, kissing, toothbrushes, sharing a pillow-drool, sharing food from the same plate, etc.).