| As many as 90 % of adults have been infected with EBV sometime in the past. Usually the the infection is asymptomatic or mild and therefore there may be measurable VCA-IgG and EBNA-1 titres. EBV is the causative agent of infectious mononucleosis (IM), BurkittOs lymphoma and NPC. (For NPC testing, please order EBV(NPC) VCA-IgA). For diagnosis of clinically suspected IM, the EBV Monospot test alone is usually positive in 90 % of adults, up to 50 % of children, and almost uniformly negative in infants within 3 weeks of primary infection. Therefore the EBV antigen complexes are useful in early diagnosis and in determining stages of infection. However the interpretation of EBV laboratory results is still complex and should be evaluated carefully with the entire clinical picture of the patient. |