Mexico Health & Infections: 90 percent of adult Mexicans carry Mononucleosis

Mononucleosis, nicknamed the “kissing disease,” has been found in 90 percent of adult Mexicans, specifically affecting seniors who contracted the disease when they were young adults. Once the herpes-like virus is contracted, it remains hidden in the body for life, according to La Jornada. Luis Arturo Eguiza Salomon, professor in the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the School of Medicine at Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN) told La Jornada, “In an underdeveloped countries like ours, infection usually occurs in the first years of life, usually before age 5, as there is evidence that 50 percent of children in Mexico under 5 suffered from this disease.” As a result, a large majority of Mexicans are carriers of the disease by the time they are 18 years old, according to Terra. An analysis of 100 Mexicans younger than 20 years showed they would have a 90 percent rate of infection, compared to 75 percent in the U.S. The virus...