Abstract
Infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) results in lifelong infection of B cells in the peripheral blood and in episodic shedding of virus from the oropharynx. We monitored patients treated with rituximab (anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody) and found that several had both no detectable B cells and no EBV in the blood but shed EBV from the throat. Although some models postulate that EBV traffics from the B cells in the blood to the throat, where it is subsequently shed, our findings indicate that circulating EBV in B cells is not necessary for the virus to persist in, and to be shed from, the oropharynx.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 318-323 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of Infectious Diseases |
| Volume | 198 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01-08-2008 |
| Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Immunology and Allergy
- Infectious Diseases