Glossary

Glossary


Epstein-Barr virus
One of the eight known types of human herpes viruses, also known as human herpes virus 4 (HHV-4). It commonly causes acute mononucleosis and less commonly chronic mononucleosis. Interest in CFS was renewed in the mid-1980s after several studies found slightly higher levels of the antibody to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in patients with CFS-like symptoms than in healthy individuals. Most of these patients had experienced an episode of infectious mononucleosis (sometimes called mono or the “kissing disease") a few years before they began to experience the chronic debilitating symptoms of CFS. As a result, for a time the CFS-like illness became popularly termed "chronic EBV."
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