Seasonal diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease among young adults

Among 3,707 incident cases of Hodgkin's disease analyzed by month of initially confirmed diagnosis, there was no evidence of seasonal variation for boys or girls (less than 15 yr old) or for older persons (greater than or equal to 40 yr old). However, for young adults (15-39 yr old) there was significant fluctuation of month of diagnosis. February was the month of peak diagnosis both among young men (P = .002) and among young women, although not significant at conventional levels (P = .30). This seasonal variation is consistent with the hypothesis that Hodgkin's disease in young adults is the rare manifestation of a prevalent infection with low pathogenicity.