"Mono" is the Spanish word for monkey. "Monito" (from the title of my last post) is the diminutive form, which has become something of a pet name for Duncan , my boyfriend (who is quite tall and prone to wrapping himself around me... like a little monkey...*pause for awwws*). Back in the U.S., "mono" – if you're not talking about audio signals or the joy of Latin prefixes – is shorthand for " infectious mononucleosis ". It's also commonly (and misleadingly) referred to as the "kissing disease" and perhaps less commonly (and less scandalously) as "glandular fever" and "Pfeiffer's disease". Caused by the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), it's one of the most common human viruses – so common that most people are infected as babies... or a least by adolescence. And, of course, EBV is one of the eight viruses in the herpes family. OF COURSE IT IS. I managed to dodge the bullet for 33 years. It wa