New Developments in Epstein-Barr Virus Research

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 world-wide, and most people become infected with EBV sometime during their lives. In the United States, as many as 95 per cent 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 35 per cent to 50 per cent of the time. EBV also establishes a lifelong dormant infection in some cells of the body's immune system. A late event in a very few carriers of this virus is the emergence of Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. This new book presents leading research from around the world in this field.