A prospective study of primary Epstein-Barr virus infections among university students in Hong Kong.

In 1988 at the Chinese University of Hong Kong 1,039 entering freshmen were screened for antibody against the Epstein-Barr virus and 71 (6.8%) were negative. One year later, 16 (25.8%) of 62 negatives converted to positive with asymptomatic infections. There was seroconversion in 14 subjects who did not give histories of deep kissing. There was an association between antibody status of Epstein-Barr and cytomegaloviruses, but not between Epstein-Barr virus and human herpes virus type 6.