Home care
A child with mono needs rest, aspirin or paracetamol, and a general diet as tolerated. Although mono is contagious, it’s not necessary to isolate the child and it’s unlikely that other family members will contract the disease. The child can return to school as soon as the weakness and fatigue disappear and the child feels well enough. If the spleen is enlarged, however, the child’s activity should be restricted. An enlarged spleen protrudes beneath the ribs, which normally protect it, and is susceptible to injury or rupture. In this situation, the child should not take part in contact sports or other energetic activity until the spleen returns to its normal size; this can take weeks or months.
Precautions
• If your child is being treated with antibiotics for a strep infection but the condition does not improve within 24 to 48 hours of starting the medication, inform your doctor. The doctor will order tests for mono.
• If the child’s spleen is enlarged, contact sports and other strenuous activity should be avoided.
Medical treatment
Your doctor will examine the child thoroughly, paying special attention to the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen. The doctor will also take a throat culture. If the throat culture reveals a strep infection, the child will be given penicillin or another antibiotic. Although most cases of mono can be treated at home with proper rest, diet, and a medication such as aspirin or paracetamol, some severe cases require hospitalization. This would be the case where the child needed to be given fluids intravenously or other types of supportive care.
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