What are they used for?
Mono tests are used to help diagnose a mono infection. Your provider may use a monospot to get fast results. Results are usually ready within an hour. But this test has a high rate of false negatives. So monospot tests are often ordered with an EVB antibody test and other tests that look for infections. These include:
Complete blood count and/or blood smear, which checks for high levels of white blood cells, a sign of infection.
Throat culture, to check for strep throat, which has similar symptoms to mono. Strep throat is a bacterial infection treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics don't work on viral infections like mono.
