Blood Test Showed Positive For Hep B. Diagnosed With Active Case Of Mono. What Does This Mean?

Posted on Thu, 23 May 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 22 May 2013 Answered on

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : A friend's teenaged son donated blood and received a letter saying that his Hep B surface antigen test was positive although the XXXXXXX test was negative. After more blood work, he was diagnosed with an active case of Mono. I've never heard of Mono causing a reactive Hep. B test. Does this mean he has or had Hepatits B?

Answered by Dr. Shoaib Khan (2 hours later)

Hello and welcome to XXXXXXX

Thank you for writing to us.

I can understand your concern and confusion. Which is why you need to first understand the causes of hepatitis, which are many. But out of them, the relevant cause to our situation are the various viruses like: cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus, varicella virus, etc; can also cause hepatitis.

Epstein-Barr virus in particular (which is associated with infectious mononucleosis; i.e. mono) can also cause hepatitis. Go through the below link for confirmation, the first paragraph shall provide the information you are looking for:
WWW.WWWW.WW
As you see, the virus that causes Mono, can also cause hepatitis. So yes, there still exists a possibility that your friend's son could have hepatitis.

I hope you found my response helpful and informative. Do write back to me for any further information or clarifications. I would be more than happy to help you.

Best wishes.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar