Chickenpox virus in CSF is associated with MS relapses
A few studies lately have linked varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles, with MS. A new study along these lines provides additional evidence of a connection. In this study, researchers examined spinal fluid and blood samples from MS cases both in relapse and remission and from non-MS controls. They found viral particles resembling VZV in the spinal fluid of MS subjects in relapse but not in subjects in remission or in controls with other neurological diseases.
Also, they detected VZV DNA in the spinal fluid and blood of MS subjects in relapse but generally not in subjects in remission. Whether VZV reactivation leads to relapse or vice versa still needs to be determined. It will also be interesting to see what effect VZV vaccination, now being administered to children in the US and other countries, may have on MS rates.
My husband, his sister, and
My husband, his sister, and their young neighbor all had chicken pox at the same time. They all three have M.S.
Interesting article. Like
Interesting article. Like most people of my age, I also had both chicken pox and mono - both of which have been linked to MS. I have read that one of these viruses,which lay dormant in your body for years, may be linked to relapses in MS when they "awaken".
Has anyone visited an infections disease doctor? I may talk to my MS doctor about this on my next visit.
Carol
Very interesting. I can
Very interesting. I can recall that my husband had a bout of shingles just before he had (what we now recognize) as some of his very first MS symptoms. Both of our sons have received the chicken pox vaccine. I am now very interested to know if this was a good thing or a bad thing!
I had chickenpox as a child
I had chickenpox as a child and again in my 30's. I was told that it was a different strain (I assumed I would not get them when my young daughter came down with it). I was recentle diagnosed with MS, although there is some discussion about ADEM. I was asked if I'd had chickenpox by the neurologist.