You can go back to school when your health care provider says it’s okay. This is usually when you feel much better, which may take a few days to a few weeks. However, you’ll probably still feel tired for a while. Most people get better within a month, but you may need to talk with your teachers or principal if your Mono symptoms are severe and are causing you to miss a lot of school. The good news is that once you’ve had mono, you probably won’t get it again.
Usually most teens with mono are allowed to take part in some physical activities, but NOT contact sports such as soccer, field hockey, softball or any other sport that could put you at risk of falling or bumping into another person, because this could possibly damage your spleen. Tell your health care provider about the sports that you’re involved in.
You can’t always prevent getting mono, but you can lessen your chances by doing the following:
- Don’t share your food, drinks, eating utensils, tooth brush, or any kind of lip product
- Don’t kiss while you are sick (Mono can spread through saliva)
- Cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze
Our health guides are developed through a systematic, rigorous process to ensure accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness. Written and reviewed by experienced healthcare clinicians from Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and consistently ranked as a top hospital by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, these guides combine clinical expertise, specialized knowledge, and evidence-based medicine. We also incorporate research and best practices from authoritative sources such as the CDC, NIH, PubMed, top medical journals, and UpToDate.com. Clinical specialists and subject matter experts review and edit each guide, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, factual, scientifically accurate health information for young people.