Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord that leads to inflammation and nerve damage as the body’s immune cells attack the nervous system. Possible causes that may trigger the inflammation include environmental, genetic, and viral factors. The varicella zoster virus, the cause of herpes zoster, has been associated with risk of multiple sclerosis.
Researchers tracked 315,550 adults with herpes zoster and a control group of 946,650 subjects, they were then evaluated for multiple sclerosis occurrence during a one-year follow-up period. The control group was selected randomly from a pool of subjects who had not been diagnosed with herpes zoster or other viral diseases. After adjusting for monthly income and geographic region, the authors found that the group with herpes zoster had a 3.96 times higher risk of multiple sclerosis than the control group. The authors noted that this risk of multiple sclerosis, although increased, was still low, as is the frequency of multiple sclerosis in general. The study also noted an interval of approximately 100 days between a herpes zoster event and occurrence of multiple sclerosis.
Although the study was limited almost entirely to Han Chinese adults, the large scope of this nationwide case-controlled study, 1.26 million sampled patients, provides strong epidemiological evidence for a possible role for herpes zoster in the risk of multiple sclerosis. The authors also point out that multiple sclerosis has a lower prevalence in Asian compared to Western populations and, thus, it may be difficult to project their findings to other populations.
Reference for: Higher Risk of Multiple Sclerosis After a Shingles Attack
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