INFECTIOUS-MONONUCLEOSIS - EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS SHEDDING IN SALIVA AND OROPHARYNX

In an examination of excretion patterns of Epstein-Barr virus [EBV] in 104 throat washings from 20 patients with infectious mononucleosis, 3 persons regularly shed virus from the 2nd wk-3rd mo. after onset; 15 demonstrated intermittent excretion over 3 mo., and in 2 cases no virus was detected. In oral secretions, the virus appeared to be located extracellulary. Transforming activity in human umbilical cord lymphocytes was demonstrated in aliquots after centrifugation and filtration, in a sample in which cells were disrupted before filtration, and in specimens after 2 yr storage. Multiple oropharyngeal sites were examined for presence of the virus. In 1 patient, virus was regularly demonstrated in throat washings and saliva; swabs from Stensen''s duct orifices yielded virus in 3 of 4 cases. Demonstration of virus in these oropharyngeal specimens explains increased transmissibility in age groups in which salivary exchange is high. [Persistent EBV in the anterior oropharynx may also have relevance for the anatomic location of Burkitt''s lymphoma in the jaw as the result of contiguous virus spread from salivary glands to adjacent marrow of the mandible where oncogenic transformation of lymphocytes may occur.].