Multiple sclerosis(MS ) is almost always a detain response to infection with the Epstein - Barr virus , a survey of 10 million former military personnel office in the US indicates . The findings could provide cue on how to treat the disease – which is hallmarked by the immune scheme attacking the medulla sheath that protects thebrain and spinal nerves – and lift the importunity of preclude the rough-cut virus in the first place . More broadly , it service as a reminder that even when people appear asymptomatic or recover cursorily from viral infection , there can be serious consequences down the cut .

The Epstein - Barr virus is part of the herpes virus home of double - stranded DNA virus . Its high transmissibility through kissing , spit , or sharing food think the overwhelming majority of the population has been infected by their later XX . Its most common effect is infective mononucleosis , better known as glandular febrility , which can leave people feel spent for weeks and , in rarer case damage the liver or lien .

Epstein - Barr has also been linked to much rarer , but far more serious , conditions such ascertain line of descent cancers . For 10 medical researchers have suspected it may be acause of MS , but have struggled to rise or disprove the theory . access code to the serum sampling taken from more than 10 million Americans serving in the armed forces has conduce to publishing inScienceof powerful grounds plunk for the idea .

The US Military takes blood blood serum from its soldier every two eld . Harvard Chan ProfessorAlberto Ascherioled a team that screen 62 million sample collected from 1993 to 2013 for the front of Epstein - Barr antibodies . Military records expose 955 masses among those test who were diagnosed with MS while serving .

Almost all those with MS tested positive for Epstein - Barr antibodies . That alone would have been limited grounds since the virus is so far-flung , but among the few who got MS after test negatively charged for Epstein - Barr antibodies on access , almost all had caught the computer virus while on duty .

This is coherent with the hypothesis that infection as an adult is much riskier than as a child , just as is reliable for the diseases already associate to the virus , which seldom bear upon those who catch it young .

Notably , the generator also tested for other viral infections in the same sampling and did not find any increased MS risk .

“ The hypothesis that EBV make MS has been investigate by our grouping and others for several years , but this is the first subject field provide compelling grounds of causality , ” Ascherio said in astatement . That ’s part because Epstein - Barr is so common ( 95 percent of Americans get it ) , it have a tumid sampling size to find out enough multitude who have never been infect to gain a useful comparison . Other report have also often not been able to found the old age at which contagion pass , something the armed services ’s longitudinal data point addressed .

Although MS can still occur in the uninfected , the risk is 32 times higher after an adult contagion than among the few who hedge the virus entirely , suggesting Epstein - Barr is well the major cause .

“ This is a big step because it paint a picture that most MS cases could be forestall by blockade EBV infection , and that place EBV could lead to the discovery of a cure for MS , ” Ascherio say .

Although the mechanism is not fully understood , anaccompanying editorialnotes the vulgar presence of Epstein - Barr infect type B cells in the brains of MS affected role . The reason why most people debar MS , even after infection , is nameless .

Epstein - Barr has the vaccine - well-disposed dimension of not reinfecting people who have already had it , but neither a vaccinum nor a treatment currently exist . However , a phase I trial hasbeen announcedusing template RNA technology speed up to fight COVID-19 .