Incidence of infectious mononucleosis at the Universities of California and Hawaii.

The observed rates of heterophil-positive infectious mononucleosis at the University of California at Davis and the University of Hawaii at Manoa were 1,212 and 37 per 100,000 students per academic year, respectively. The data collected suggest that the extraordinarily low incidence at the University of Hawaii may be due to the following factors: (1) underutilization of the student health service by students with infectious mononucleosis; (2) low proportion of Epstein-Barr virus-seronegative students; (3) high proportion of Asian students who appear to be less likely to develop heterophil-positive infectious mononucleosis; and (4) possible low efficiency in the transmission of primary Epstein-Barr virus infections.