Skip to navigation Skip to content

News

Share

Study Adds Evidence and Diversity to Link Between Epstein-Barr Virus Infection, Mono, and Risk of MS

August 31, 2017

Researchers at Kaiser Permanente Southern California and their national and international collaborators published results of a study that expands previous reports suggesting that people whose bloodwork showed signs of a past infection by the Epstein-Barr virus, or who had had mononucleosis, were more likely to develop multiple sclerosis than people who did not show signs of the infection. This study included people identifying as white, black, and Hispanic. Some individuals with MS in this study did not show signs of exposure to the virus. The virus is among several risk factors identified that increase a person’s susceptibility to getting MS.
 
Read a news story in Healthday about this study
Read the scientific abstract in the journal Neurology
Read more about risk factors for MS
 

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis, and there is currently no cure for MS. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are leading to better understanding and moving us closer to a world free of MS. An estimated 1 million people live with MS in the United States. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, and it affects women three times more than men.

Share

© 2020 The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is a tax exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Its Identification Number (EIN) is 13-5661935.