title: Epidemiological investigation of the association between infectious mononucleosis and multiple sclerosis.
abstract: By matching a cohort of 494 infectious mononucleosis (IM) cases with a multiple sclerosis (MS) register, 3 MS cases were retrieved. The interval between IM and MS was 12 years. This corresponds to a relative risk of 3.7 for MS to occur subsequent to IM (p = 0.05). This relationship between a manifestation of a relatively late Epstein-Barr virus infection and MS may indicate that a microbiologically shielded environment is important in the pathogenesis of MS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vahlne
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dalton
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Runmarker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology