This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Some research on EBV and MS (EBV usually known as Glandular Fever in the UK and Mono in the US).

I've been invited to attend and EBV/MS seminar at the Institute of Neurology later this month, so will be keen to find out what the latest thinking is.

Ian



Epstein-Barr Infection Linked to Multiple Sclerosis 02 March 2006

Patients diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis in young adulthood as a result of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection have twice the risk of developing multiple sclerosis as those who are not, according to a meta-analysis published in the March issue of the Annals of Neurology.
Evan L. Thacker, S.M., from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues reviewed the data from 14 studies published between 1965 and 2005.

The relative risk of multiple sclerosis after an early adulthood EBV infection ranged from less than 1 (no risk) to 17 in the various studies, with an overall risk of 2.3 that was statistically significant. Variations in study design and other heterogeneities did not affect their results.

The authors conclude, "the risk for multiple sclerosis is close to zero among individuals who are not EBV infected, intermediate among individuals infected with EBV in early childhood, and highest among individuals first infected with EBV in adolescence or later in life." An EBV vaccine might help prevent multiple sclerosis, they add.

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