Multiple sclerosis as a retroviral disease? Epidemiological considerations in relation to HTLV-I epidemiology

The intrafamilial epidemiology of multiple sclerosis was compared with the known intrafamilial epidemiology of infections with HTLV-I. 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-I 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-I, maybe because MS could be a multifactorial disease only developing if various factors coincide in the same person.