en lisant cet article j'ai pensé à plusieurs d'entre vous qui ont attrapé la mononucléose dans le temps
Infectious Mononucleosis a Risk Factor for Multiple Sclerosis
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/528674?src=mp
Infectious Mononucleosis a Risk Factor for Multiple Sclerosis
Reuters Health Information 2006. © 2006 Reuters Ltd.
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By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Mar 28 - Infection with Epstein-Barr virus
(EBV), manifesting as infectious mononucleosis, in adolescents and young
adults, more than doubles the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS)
later in life, results of a meta-analysis suggest.
"Multiple sclerosis is a complicated disease, probably caused by a
combination of factors," lead author Evan L. Thacker from the Harvard
School of Public Health, Boston, told Reuters Health. "It is likely that
some viral infections, such as infectious mono, play a role in
determining whether multiple sclerosis will occur."
Similarities in the epidemiology of infectious mononucleosis and MS have
led researchers to consider EBV in the cause of MS, Mr. Thacker and two
colleagues from Harvard point out in the Annals of Neurology for March.
"Both infectious mononucleosis and MS occur in young adults, both follow
a latitude gradient, and both are rare in populations where infections
occur at an early age, suggesting that late infection with EBV,
evidenced by occurrence of infectious mononucleosis, is an important
causal factor in MS," they explain.
However, studies that have evaluated the relation of infectious
mononucleosis and MS risk have produced inconsistent results.
Against this backdrop, the Harvard group systematically identified and
statistically combined 14 relevant studies conducted in the US, Europe,
and Australia to come up with an overall picture of the connection
between infectious mono and MS.
The combined relative risk of MS after infectious mononucleosis was 2.3,
they report.
"The most important observation in our study was that people who got
infectious mono while growing up were about twice as likely to get
multiple sclerosis later, compared to people who never got infectious
mono," Thacker told Reuters Health.
"The potential implication of our observation is that some cases of
multiple sclerosis could probably be averted through the prevention of
infectious mono," he said. "One way to accomplish this might be to
develop a safe and effective vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus, the
virus that causes infectious mono."
Ann Neurol 2006;59:499-503.
