Introduction
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) v is a double-stranded γ-DNA herpesvirus of B
lymphocytes[1]. In general, the younger population is more
susceptible, as acute infection is common in children and adolescents
and rare in adults[1]. The disease course is usually less than 1
month, and the clinical course is self-limited with a favourable
prognosis[1-2]. However, the virus then targets B lymphocytes for
its life cycle, and in immunocompetent individuals, EBV can reenter the
lytic infection phase by latent infection[3-6]. Viruses can infect
not only B lymphocytes but also T or natural killer (NK) cells[1-6].
Clinically, there are systemic symptoms such as chronic or recurrent
fever, hepatosplenomegaly, and lymphadenopathy, as well as damage to
different organs/tissues caused by active viral replication; this is
referred to as chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (CAEBV)
infection[3-6]. Some cases involve the intestine and exhibit
intestinal symptoms, that is, CAEBV infection involving the intestine
(with systemic symptoms), which, in the absence of a basis for malignant
lymphoproliferative disease, may also be referred to as chronic active
EBV infection-associated enteritis (CAEAE)[4,6]. In recent years,
CAEAE has gained increasing attention. We performed a literature report
and analysed and summarized the clinical features, differential
diagnoses, prognoses, etc., to increase awareness and improve the
diagnosis of this class of diseases among clinicians.