Nephew has mono; Should I be concerned about grandparents at Xmas?

Factual Questions
1

We’re having Christmas at my house this year. My wife’s parents are in their 80’s and are coming.

My sister wasn’t going to come because they were taking my nephew skiing for a senior present. But now my nephew has mono, so they’re not going skiing, so they’re coming here. He’s 17, and had it at least as of Dec. 8th, but I’m not sure how much earlier than that. All I know is “he has mono”, so if that can mean different things, I don’t know which it would be.

Is this a concern for my wife’s parents? Her mother, in particular, had knee replacement surgery a few years ago and is on immunosuppressants (sp?). She has to take antibiotics just to go in for a teeth cleaning at the dentist.

On the other hand, you (well, I) never hear of people that old getting mono. WebMD.com says “Most people have been exposed to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which causes mono, by the time they reach adulthood. They likely won’t have symptoms, but they can spread the virus to others every now and then throughout their lifetime.” They share opłatki ever year near Christmas, so it’s almost inconceivable she wouldn’t have been exposed.

That’s really all I know. I don’t even know if he’s planning on coming. I need to call my sister and ask, but I’m in such a state of ignorance as to whether this is even an issue, I don’t know what to say.

2

IANAD, but I’ll help frame the issue and provide some information that I’ve found. There seems to be two things to consider here:

  1. How long is mono contagious?

and

  1. Is it safe to expose an immuno-compromised person to the disease?
    For 1), according to this page:

So it would seem safe to assume that grandma and grandpa will be exposed to the pathogen on their visit.

For 2), according to this site:

Emphasis added. I think in light of grandma’s compromised immune system it would be prudent to avoid contact between her and your nephew. Again, IANAD, so I will defer to the more knowledgeable Dopers who will undoubtedly chime in, but on the face of things this looks like a Bad Idea.

E: One last item is that it is not unheard of for elderly people to contract the disease. From the second cite:

3

Tell the grandparents no tongue when they kiss him hello.

I am so going to hell for that!

4

When I took my youngest to the doc’s a few weeks ago one of the possibilities was Mono (but it was too soon to tell). When I was teasing my daughter about swapping spit - the doctor jumped in and indicated that it is a misconception that Mono is only spread via sharing glasses, kissing, etc.

He indicated that it can be spread very much like a cold - coughing, sneezing, not washing hands…

Now, having had Mono myself at that age, I seriously doubt the nephew will feel like doing anything but sleeping/resting for several weeks.

5

I had a doctor once feel up my lymph nodes and tell me I’d already had mono. Dunno if that’s true or works on everyone, but maybe the grandparents could get the feel up.

6

Thanks everyone. It turns out my wife was worried because her Mom was worried, but her Mom wasn’t worried about herself or her husband. She was worried about our kids (9, 11, and 13) getting it. My wife didn’t pick up on that the first time she talked to her Mom.

I’m not worried about our kids. I figure, better now than in college.

7

FWIW, one of our daughters had mono years back and nobody in the household got sick. We were advised to either use disposable utensils and plates for her, or to be sure they were washed at the highest temperature we could get in the dishwasher.

8

My wife just got over Cytomegalovirus which is the second-most common cause of mono. the
Dr. said that most people got it when they were little, but they never knew it because only a small fraction of people show symptoms. Chances are the old folks already got it decades ago.