REAGENT FOR DETECTING AND MONITORING VIRAL INFECTIONS

The invention concerns a reagent for diagnosing an infection caused by a virus, characterized in that it comprises essentially a mixture consisting of (1) an immunodominant fragment of a protein of said virus comprising not more than 60 aminoacids, preferably between 20 and 30 aminoacids and (2) a mixture (called mixotope) of convergent combining peptides, derived from said immunodominant fragment, which peptides are obtained by total or partial artificial degeneration of said immunodominant fragment by systematic or partial replacement of each aminoacid by another according to an appropriate substitution matrix. The invention concerns a reagent for detecting and monitoring infections caused by the Epstein-Barr virus of EBV, which is, in particular, the causal agent of infectious mononucleose and its applications for detecting an EBV infection at any stage of the infection (primo-infection, healthy carriers and induced tumors). Said diagnosis reagent comprises essentially a mixture consisting of (1) a C-terminal fragment of the protein VCAp18 SEQ ID n 1 of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) comprising not more than 60 aminoacids, preferably between 20 and 30 aminoacids, and (2) a mixture of convergent combining peptides, derived from said C-terminal fragment.