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Dr. Miguel A. Hernan, of the Harvard School
of Public Health in Boston, and associates identified 301 women
with MS and matched them with 1416 healthy controls. The subjects
completed questionnaires regarding such issues as lifetime history
of various viral diseases and exposure to pets. The odds ratio of a subject with a history
of infectious mononucleosis developing MS was 2.1, the researchers
report in the May issue of Epidemiology. For mumps or measles after
age 15, the odds ratios were 2.3 and 2.8, respectively. "Whether these viruses cause the elevated
risk or are only surrogates for the actual etiologic exposure cannot
be determined from our findings," Dr. Hernan's group cautions. The investigators observed no association of MS with other common viral diseases, exposure to canine distemper virus, cat ownership, birth order or number of siblings. The risk of MS was moderately increased among dog owners, "but the 95% confidence interval was wide."
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