OBJECTIVE: To study the condition and clinical characteristics of Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection in hospitalized children from Wuhan region. METHODS: A total of 14 840 hospitalized children were classified into five age groups: less than 6 months old, 6 months to 1 year old, 1 to 3 years old, 3 to 7 years old and 7 to 15 years old. The antibodies IgM and IgG to EBV capsid antigen (VCA) were detected using ELISA. RESULTS: In the 14 840 hospitalized children, 7 899 were positive for EBV antibodies, with an infection rate of 53.23%. The positive rate of VCA-IgM was 4.05% (601/14 840) and that of VCA-IgG was 49.18% (7 298/14 840). The lowest positive rate of VCA-IgM (0.11%) was found in the group of less than 6 months old and the highest positive rate of VCA-IgG (79.83%) was found in the group of 7 to 15 years old. Of the 601 children with positive VCA-IgM, 429 (71.4%) suffered from respiratory tract infection. CONCLUSIONS: EBV infection is very common in hospitalized children in Wuhan. Respiratory tract infection is a leading disease in children with positive EBV antibodies. The infection rate of EBV in different age groups is different.