Hospital-diagnosed infections before age 20 and risk of a subsequent multiple sclerosis diagnosis

In this MEDtalk Scott Montgomery, clinical epidemiologist and director of the Clinical Epidemiology group at Örebro University and Örebro University hospital, presents the results of the study showing, that a variety of serious infections in adolescence, including novel evidence for CNS infections, are risk factors for a subsequent multiple sclerosis diagnosis. The study demonstrating adolescence is a critical period of susceptibility to environmental exposures that raise the risk of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Importantly, this increased risk cannot be entirely explained by infectious mononucleosis, pneumonia, or CNS infections.