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