Can a person get Mono from sharing a bite of food?!

First, mono is not exactly an STI. Actually many children get it. By age 5 years, approximately 50% of the US population is infected. But yes, you can catch it by using the chopsticks.


Here is some information for you:


Mono, or mononucleosis, is spread through direct contact with saliva. This includes sharing eating utensils, drinks, and even things like lip gloss, lipstick, or lip balm.

Because it takes about 4 to 7 weeks for symptoms to appear, a person who's infected can spread the virus without even knowing it. Though no one really knows exactly how long it takes after infection with the virus for someone to become contagious, it's pretty safe to say that a person is most contagious from right before symptoms start until they go away.

If you've shared drinks with or kissed someone who has mono, there's no way to tell whether you will get it — unless you know you've had mono before. People who have already been infected with the virus that causes mono — Epstein-Barr virus or EBV — probably won't get reinfected because they develop immunity. (Although it is possible for the virus to "reactivate," it's not because someone infects you all over again. It's because in rare cases the original virus can flare up and cause symptoms a second time).

About 95% of adults have been infected with EBV and 50% of kids are infected before age 5. So you may very well have already had mono and not known it.

http://kidshealth.org/teen/expert/mono/e…

Most people who get mono are between the ages of 15 and 25, but younger kids can get it, too. The mono virus affects the lymph nodes, throat, salivary glands, liver, spleen, and blood, and it can make a person feel tired and achy all over. It can also make you lose your appetite.

You probably know what your lymph nodes are, and you probably guessed that your salivary glands are inside of your mouth. But what about your spleen? It's located on the left side of your abdomen, just under the ribcage, and it helps cleanse your blood of bacteria and viruses.

Mono is contagious, which means you can spread the virus to other people who haven't had mono before. Even though you can get mono from kissing someone infected with EBV, there are other ways you can get it, but they all involve contact with saliva. Sharing pillows, straws, toothbrushes, or food from the same plate can also spread mono.

At first, people usually don't feel sick after getting infected with the EBV virus. So someone could have mono — and be spreading it — and not even know it. That's why it's important not to share things like forks, straws, water bottles, or lip gloss at school.

http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/mono.html