To investigate the clinical symptoms, signs and laboratory examinations of minors and adult patients with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, and to provide a basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

The general data, main clinical manifestations and major laboratory indexes of 162 cases with EBV infection admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from June to July 2017 were analyzed, retrospectively, including fever, liver function, blood routine examination, EBV DNA load and so on. All patients were divided into juvenile group (113 cases) and adult group (49 cases).

The first diagnosis of fever was the highest in one week between juvenile group and adult group (80.8% and 50%, respectively), the difference was significantly different (Z=-2.504,P= 0.012). The moderate heat (59.3%) and the high fever (55%) were predominant for both groups of heat peaks, but there was no significant differences (Z=-1.646,P= 0.100). There was no significant difference in white blood cell count (WBC), neutrophile granulocyte percentage (NE%), lymphocytes percentage (LY%), lymphocyte count (LY), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBil) between the two groups (allP> 0.05). The levels of while neutrophil counts (NE) (t= 2.703,P = 0.008), glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) (t =-3.370, P= 0.001) and direct bilirubin (DBil) (t =-2.068,P= 0.043) between the two groups were significantly different. The mean EBV load of cases in juvenile group was slightly higher than that of the adult group, but the difference was not significant (P> 0.05).

The main clinical manifestations of EBV infection are fever, pharyngitis and lymphadenopathy. The detection of EBV DNA contributes to the early diagnosis and treatment, and could reduce the occurrence of related diseases.