Glandular Fever: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Etc

ASSISTENT DOCTOR - Glandular Fever: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Etc

Have you ever heard of kissing disease? Yes, this is a condition that in the medical world is known as glandular fever (mononucleosis). Learn more about this one health problem ranging from characteristics and symptoms, causes, treatment, to prevention!

What is Glandular Fever?

Granular fever is a health problem that occurs due to a viral infection. The disease in the medical world is cut as mononucleosis is often dubbed as 'kissing disease'. This condition is often transmitted through kissing. However, you do not need to worry because glandular fever is not really a time of health that is classified as dangerous. In fact, this condition can be cured without the need for treatment even within a few days to weeks. In addition, people who have experienced mononucleosis will most likely become immune to the disease later in life.

Characteristics And Symptoms Of Glandular Fever

Glandular fever is characterized by a number of characteristics and symptoms that will generally begin to be felt by sufferers after 4-6 weeks infected by the virus that causes this disease. The symptoms of the glandular demam in question are as follows:

Fever
The body feels tired
Headache
Sore throat
Swelling of the tonsils (tonsils)
Sore throat
Lymph nodes in the neck area and swollen armpits
The spleen organ is enlarged.
Liver disorders
Skin discoloration to yellowish
Rashes on the skin
Red spots on the roof of the mouth

When Should I Check With The Doctor?

Although in general mononucleosis is not dangerous, but it would be nice if you immediately see a doctor if you experience the symptoms above. What's more, if the symptoms of mononucleosis that you experience has been going on for a long time and does not also subside despite having been given related drugs.

Causes Of Glandular Fever

The cause of glandular fever aka 'kissing disease' is a virus, precisely epstein-barr virus. Viruses that fall into the category of human herpesvirus 4 is transmitted from one individual to another through the salivating medium of a number of activities such as:

Kissing
Cough
Bersin

In addition, touching or using items belonging to someone who has been infected with this virus such as plates, glasses, and towels is also a cause of mononucleosis. Mononucleosis, in addition to Epstein-Barr virus, is caused by other 'nasty' microorganisms such as Toxoplasma and Cytomegalovirus (CMV). The symptoms caused by both organisms make almost no difference.

Risk Factors For Glandular Fever

Everyone has the potential to experience mononucleosis which is influenced by a number of risk factors, namely:

Aged 5-25 years
Kissing activities
Exposure to saliva (droplets) from patients who are sneezing or coughing
Using the same items used by sufferers
Diagnosis of Glandular Fever

To make sure if you do have mononucleosis, your doctor needs to perform a series of medical examinations consisting of:

1. Anamnesis

First of all, the doctor will ask a number of questions to the patient regarding the perceived complaint. Commonly asked questions include the following:

What symptoms are felt?
How long has this condition lasted?
Have you ever experienced this condition before? If yes, how big?
Are there any family members who are also experiencing this condition?
Has there been any recent contact with other sufferers?
Does it have a history of other diseases?
Do you have a drug allergy? If yes, what medicine?

2. Physical Examination

After that, the doctor will proceed to the next stage of examination, namely a physical examination. At this stage, the doctor will examine the patient's physical condition and analyze if there are any abnormalities leading to mononucleosis.

For example, the disease is characterized by changes in the skin color and eyes of the patient to yellowish or the appearance of a rash on the skin. If these traits are found, the doctor may almost be able to confirm that the patient has glandular fever. In addition, standard physical examination procedures such as height, weight, and blood pressure checks will also be performed.

3. Supporting Examination

If needed, the doctor will also perform a supporting examination procedure to strengthen the results of the diagnosis. The examination in question such as:

Blood tests. The doctor will take a sample of the patient's blood to be further examined in the laboratory. With this method, the doctor can find out if there is a virus that 'nests' in the patient's blood.
Saliva examination (saliva). The doctor will take a saliva sample to be analyzed in the laboratory. Just like blood tests, this saliva examination aims to find out if there is a virus in the patient's saliva.

Treatment of Glandular Fever

Glandular fever is treated in a number of ways. Here's how to treat mononucleosis that you need to know and can apply.

1. Treatment Of Glandular Fever At Home

As mentioned at the beginning, mononucleosis is actually a type of disease that can be cured without the need for any treatment procedure. Generally, this disease will end within a few days to weeks, depending on the strength of the body's immunity.

However, there are a number of things you need to do during the healing process, namely:

Increase drinking water so as not to dehydrate
Eating nutritious foods (fruits, vegetables, etc.)
Enough rest
Avoid consuming alcohol

2. Medical Treatment Of Glandular Fever

Medical treatment aims to help relieve the symptoms caused when you experience this disease. Medical treatment to overcome mononucleosis is done by taking drugs such as:

Acetaminophen
Aspirin
Ibuprofen
Complications of Glandular Fever

Although in general glandular fever is not dangerous, but that does not mean the disease is free from the risk of complications. Some of the complications resulting from mononucleosis include the following:

Hepatitis
Inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis)
Enlarged spleen
Airways pinching
Blood cells have decreased in number.
Nervous disorders
Meningitis

Prevention Of Glandular Fever

This health problem can be prevented. The trick is as follows:

Avoid contact with people with glandular fever
Keep clean diri diligently wash hands, bathe, etc.
Drink a lot of water.
Eat nutritious food
Sport
Enough rest

Here's information about mononucleosis that you need to know.