Infectious Mononucleosis. Observations from a Public Health Laboratory †

This paper is written in honor of Dr. John R. Paul for three reasons. First, in recognition of his contributions as a philosopher and educator in preventive medicine, and especially, the emphasis he placed on epidemiology as the basic discipline in prevention. To this end he developed and popularized the concepts of clinical epidemiology and serological epidemiology. Second, in tribute to the role he played both as a participant in and as a catalyst of research studies on infectious disease, and in particular, his investigations of infectious mononucleosis for which he discovered the only really diagnostic test-the heterophile antibody test-which bears his name and that of his associate Dr. Bunnell (the Paul-Bunnell test). Third, in appreciation of the role he played in my own career and development: fresh from my Army service in Japan, he gave me my first opportunity for research, stimulated and encouraged me in the four years I spent in his department at Yale, and provided guidance and assistance in the ten years after that. I am, therefore, honored to be afforded this chance to prepare, in his honor, this small contribution on infectious mononucleosis to which he first introduced me and to which, for better or for worse, I have been wedded ever since.