Epstein Barr Virus

Epstein-Barr virus, frequently referred to as EBV, is a member of the Herpes virus family and one of the most common human viruses. The virus occurs worldwide, and most people become infected with EBV sometime during their lives. In the United States, as many as 95% of adults between 35 and 40 years of age have been infected. Infants become susceptible to EBV as soon as maternal antibody protection (present at birth) disappears. Many children become infected with EBV, and these infections usually cause no symptoms or are indistinguishable from the other mild, brief illnesses of childhood. In the United States and in other developed countries, many persons are not infected with EBV in their childhood years. When infection with EBV occurs during adolescence or young adulthood, it causes Infectious Mononucleosis (IM) 35% to 50% of the time. Symptoms of IM are fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph glands. Sometimes, a swollen spleen or liver involvement may develop. Heart problems or involvement of the central nervous system occurs only rarely, and infectious mononucleosis is almost never fatal. EBV is also associated with Burkitt's lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and lymphatic proliferative syndromes in immuno-depressed patients.

The laboratory diagnosis of IM is traditionally performed by detecting heterophile antibodies which develop in the serum during the course of the infection, and which agglutinate horse erythrocytes. However, these antibodies may not always be present in patients affected by IM, particularly if the patient is less than 14 years of age; furthermore, heterophile antibodies may also persist for over a year after the infection. Given that the determination of heterophile antibodies alone may lead to an erroneous diagnosis, it is also important to determine the presence of antibodies towards the viral antigens. The detection of antibodies directed to the "Viral Capsid Antigen" (VCA) and the “Epstein-Barr Nuclear Antigen” (EBNA) is particularly informative.

During the course of IM, the IgM- and IgG-class antibodies to VCA appear early, while the IgG to EBNA develop later during the infection. The presence of IgM against VCA in the absence of IgG against EBNA therefore indicates that there is a current infection, while the presence of IgG against both VCA and EBNA is indicative of a prior infection.

Sample Volume : 10 µl
Controls/ Calibrators : 3 controls
Incubation : 20’+ 20’

Hersteller:

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