Infection remains the most common cause of enlarged lymph nodes. Once an infection resolves (or is cured by medications, if it is a bacterial infection), then the enlarged lymph nodes should gradually decrease in size over a period of a few weeks to a few months.
Persistent and painless enlargement of multiple lymph nodes, in the absence of any inflammatory or infectious illnesses, also raises the possibility of lymphoma, which is a cancer originating in the lymph nodes. (I don't wish to unnecessarily alarm you, but fevers and sweats, especially at night, can occur with both benign inflammatory/infectious and malignant lymph node conditions.)
Hopefully, these enlarged lymph nodes are the result of infection or inflammation. However, if they are not shrinking, or additional enlarged lymph nodes are cropping up, then your son also needs to be evaluated for the possibility of lymphoma, especially if an exhaustive evaluation has not turned up any evidence of acute or chronic infectious illnesses. If this sort of evaluation has not yet been considered by your physician, then consider raising the issue with your doctor. If he/she is not amenable to ruling out this possible diagnosis, then it may be prudent for you to seek a second opinion.
Sincerely/ Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS
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