Early in life, almost everyone picks up a dose of the Epstein-Barr virus (or EBV for short). Most of us will never even notice. About 90 per cent of the human population lives in happy equilibrium with the virus for their entire life. During adolescence, a few will suffer the effects of infectious mononucleosis or ?glandular fever?, one of the hazards of kissing an infected teenager. But very rarely, EBV is lethal.
This extreme sensitivity to EBV is inherited, meaning that there is a genetic susceptibility to fatal effects of the virus. The condition is known X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome (XLP), and begins between two and three years of age - usually in males. The body somehow unleashes a massive immune response to infection, sometimes causing a fatal form of glandular fever, and sometimes cancer of the lymph nodes. Death by the age of 40 is inevitable. Two separate research groups now reveal the nature of this inherited susceptibility. The findings will hopefully allow those at risk to be identified and protected from EBV infection.
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