How Long Does Epstein-Barr Viral Infection Take To Resolve?

Posted on Sun, 2 Oct 2016

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

Sun, 2 Oct 2016 Answered on

Thu, 20 Oct 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I tested positive for epv.. how long will i be contagious?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Ivan Romich (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
see next

Detailed Answer:
Hi and welcome.
There is still no exact period for which we can say that patient is contagious but it is considered that person is contagious for at least 4 weeks after dissapearence of symptoms and in most cases contagiousity lasts for 12-16 weeks. In rare cases, virus may be active for several months even up to a year but this is not common scenario. It is also good to say that EBV is widely spread and most people come in contact with it during the life time and more than 80% of young people(20-30years) have antibodies which protect them from infections.
Wish you good health. Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Ivan Romich (36 minutes later)

I tested negative for hiv 12 weeks post pep after high risk incident but tested positive for ebv .. can ebv affect ny hiv test results?? Can having ebv cause a false negative test result for hiv?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Ivan Romich (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
No

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Hiv and EBV are very different viruses and these tests don't interfere to each other,even if saliva test was done, so you can feel safe about this.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Veerisetty Shyamkumar