Can EBV actually kill someone?

My daughter has suffered from chronicly high EBV titers since she had mono 13 years ago. She suffers daily from awful headaches, fatigue, exhaustion, RLS and a general inability to live a normal life. She was told recently that having EBV for a long time can potentially cause death. Has anyone heard of this?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Epstein barr virus which is responsible for infectious mononucleosis can also cause Burkitt's lymphoma,nasopharyngeal carcinoma and B cell lymphoma. EBV appears to play an important role in these malignancies, but is probably not the sole cause of disease.

Some cases of glomerulonephritis of the kidney due to chronic active EBV have been reported which can prove life threatening.

I suggest you to get your daughter evaluated for chronic raised EBV by an infectious diseases specialist or hematologist.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how your daughter is doing.