Objective: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a common virus all around the world with observed seropositivity of 90% in adult population. More than 90% of the children are infected with this virus before the age of 6. This study aims to determine the quantitative viral load of EBV DNA in children between 0-18 years of age with prolonged lymphadenopathy.

Material and Methods: Among the patients with lymphadenopathy symptoms, who were admitted to the Istanbul University, Department of General Pediatrics between the years 2014 and 2015, 100 volunteer children between the age of 0-18 whose informed consents were taken from their parents were included in the study. Viral DNA was isolated from the whole blood samples of the patients for Real Time PCR (RT-PCR) method.

Results: EBV DNA was found in 33 (33%) of the patients. Of the patients who were positive for EBV DNA 17 (51.5%) were male while the remaining 16 patients (48.5%) were female. The highest quantitative value of EBV DNA was found in patients between the ages of 0 and 6.

Conclusion: Despite serological tests were preferred as the first-line tests between 0-4 years of age, the results of our study suggest that viral load may have an important role in the diagnosis by quantitative determination and assessment of EBV DNA. In order to prevent potentially undesirable clinical manifestations that may arise from EBV which is an oncogenic virus, in later years, it is necessary to keep in mind that evaluation of viral load EBV DNA should be performed in children who have prolonged lymphadenopathy complaints.