Researchers from Harvard University recently found that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is most known for leading to mononucleosis, is a prime cause of the chronic inflammatory disease multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life.
“We have a big problem when it comes to autoimmune diseases. We don’t know a trigger,” Prof. Cyrille Cohen, head of the Laboratory of Immunotherapy at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, told i24NEWS.
“[MS], a progressive disease that affects 2.8 million people worldwide… is likely caused by infection with [EBV], according to a study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers,” The Harvard Gazette reported.
Harvard researchers found that the risk of MS, which destroys neurons in the brain and spinal cord – progressively deteriorating vision, balance, speech, and mobility – increases by 32 times in the years after an EBV infection.
Prof. Cohen called it the “most comprehensive study we have seen so far, with 10 million subjects that were examined.”
“Out of those 10 million, there were 800 cases of MS… based on data that was collected over 20 years… the researchers were able to show a correlation.”
According to a study by the Duke University Medical Center, about 90 percent of people are infected at some point in their lives with EBV.
The herpes virus – which causes the infamous so-called “kissing-disease” and for which there is no vaccine – stays in the host’s body, usually dormant, for their entire life.
“[EBV] is the virus that we usually encounter as kids. It is really endemic in the population,” Prof. Cohen explained to i24NEWS.
“The good news is that, if we have a vaccine against EBV… that might actually prevent the occurrence of MS.”
