Observations on childhood infections with the Epstein-Barr virus.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a member of the herpes group and first detected in cultures of Burkitt's lymphoma cells [1], has been identified as the probable cause of infectious mononucleosis (IM) [2-4]. Patients who develop IM were found to lack antibodies to EBV prior to illness and to form high levels of antibody during illness, often in rising titer. A history of typical IM could be elicited only from individuals with antibodies [5, 6], and the disease occurred only among laboratory technicians and students who had no antibodies at an earlier time [2-5, 7]. EBV appears to have a growth-stimulating effect on cultured peripheral leukocytes from antibodynegative, healthy donors [8-11], an observation which might explain the ready and rapid establishment of continuous lines of Mastoid cells from