Symptoms of Glandular fever

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Many people, especially children, have few or no noticeable symptoms of glandular fever.

If symptoms do occur, they usually include:

swollen, enlarged lymph nodes (small swellings on the neck, armpits, groin and other parts of the body);
high fever (temperature above 39C or 102.2F);
very sore throat;
swollen tonsils, with a white coating;
tiredness and lack of energy;
loss of appetite and weight loss; and
muscle aches and headache.

The spleen, which is part of the immune system, may swell up noticeably and become painful. This organ is found under the ribs on the left side of your abdomen. If it is hit or damaged while tender and swollen it can sometimes rupture (burst) and cause internal bleeding, requiring surgery.

Other, less common symptoms, include swollen liver, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes), puffiness or swelling around the eyes, and swelling up of the airways leading to breathing difficulties.

At first, glandular fever is sometimes wrongly diagnosed, for example as a bacterial throat infection or tonsillitis. If you are given treatment for a bacterial infection with the antibiotics ampicillin or amoxycillin, you may develop a rash of small red spots.

After the initial illness, there may be a short or prolonged period of feeling tired and depressed. This usually lasts a few days or weeks but in some cases can be long term and lead to conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome. See the separate topic on chronic fatigue for more information.