MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS AS A RETROVIRAL DISEASE - EPIDEMIOLOGIC CONSIDERATIONS IN RELATION TO HTLV-I EPIDEMIOLOGY

The intrafamilial epidemiology of multiple sclerosis was compared with the known intrafamilial epidemiology of infections with HTLV-1. Infections with this retrovirus most often have a subclinical course, but can cause leukemia or a neurological disease resembling multiple sclerosis. Through the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry, information was obtained on 79 parent-child cases of multiple sclerosis, and in 55 cases further information was obtained through questionnaires. The study did not reveal any common intrafamilial pattern of MS and HTLV-1 infections. It can be concluded that if multiple sclerosis is associated with a specific 'MS virus', it is hardly one with the same epidemiology as HTLV-1, maybe because MS could be a multifactorial disease only developing if various factors coincide in the same person.