Check out The "kissing disease" vaccine

A vaccine could finally prevent mononucleosis, also called kissing disease, an annoying disease that affects young people. According to a study published in "Cell" the vaccine based on

nanoparticles obtained that the immune system of animals release powerful antibodies to the Epstein-Barr disease casuante.

Nanoparticles are microscopic particles that are being investigated as potential vehicles for vaccine administration. The new findings suggest that this could be a promising method for developing a vaccine against the Epstein-Barr. Now, say the researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases US, it is still early to talk about a vaccine for use in humans.

Very common virus

The Epstein-Barr virus was identified in 1964 and is one of the most common human virus, as it infects about 90% of people worldwide at some point in their lives. Belongs to the herpes virus, being a relative of that causes cold sores or genital herpes. It can be found anywhere in the world. In fact, most people have been infected with the virus at some point in their lives, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The most common form of propagation is saliva, so it is known by the kissing disease.

It affects mainly schoolchildren, adolescents and young adults. It is less common in preschool children (most of these infections are asymptomatic) and is rare in the first year of life and the incidence is highest between 4 and 12 years old.

Mild symptoms

While most people infected with the virus not sick, or have only mild symptoms, Epstein-Barr virus is associated with almost 200,000 cases of cancer per year worldwide, including gastric and nasopharyngeal cancers, Burkitt Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Currently, there is no approved vaccine to protect people from Epstein-Barr virus.

According to the NIAID team, designing vaccine nanoparticles could also be used to create or redesign vaccines against other types of infection.