My roommate and his girlfriend both had
mono, he started showing symptoms in
mid-February and is feeling better, she
was a couple weeks after him. I think they
both are feeling better but it has been
less than 2 months, so I am sure they
still carry it.
Last night they made a cake, and I didn't
see them make it but I definitely saw her
scraping icing with her finger and licking
it and repeating that... I witnessed this
after I had eaten a piece... so now I am
VERY worried that it could have been
passed to me through the cake.
I've heard that the virus can't live on
surfaces outside the body for very long.
Should I really be worried about this cake
thing? Or is it just when you kiss
someone?
How soon could I be tested if there is a
high risk of being infected now?
And how long should I be really careful
around them and people they've surely come
into close contact with? I've heard 6
months to a year??
The virus (EBV) is present in the saliva
so it can be transmitted by kissing,
sharing the same drink , or using the same
eating tool in the same time with the
infected person. This means you need close
contact with the infected person’s
saliva. In a situation like you’ve
described, transmission is possible if the
cake’s icing is contaminated with fresh
saliva. Basically, mono can’t be
transmitted through food or water because
the EBV virus can’t stay alive for long
outside the body.
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