Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Having infectious mononucleosis, more commonly known as "mono," during childhood and adolescence may be a risk factor for developing multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life, a new study suggests.
The study, published Oct. 11 in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Network Open, found that a mono infection during teenage years was associated with the development of MS after age 20, independent of shared family factors and genetic risk.
According to the study, infectious mononucleosis (IM) is an acute, viral infection also known as glandular fever or the "kissing disease," as the infection is spread through bodily fluids, especially saliva. The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the most common cause of IM, but other viruses can also cause this disease.
According to the U.S. Disease Control and Prevention Center, at least one out of four teenagers and young adults infected with EBV will develop mono.
The study's authors note that adolescence may be "an important period of susceptibility" in developing an association between IM and MS as this group may be exposed to greater environmental factors that can lead to mono infection.
"Because MS may have an asymptomatic or prodromal period of approximately 5 to 10 years before clinical onset, a diagnosis of IM in adolescence could potentially signal that IM is a consequence of prodromal MS," the study's authors wrote.
The study, conducted by researchers out of Orebro University in Sweden, looked at hospital-diagnosed cases of mono during childhood (birth to 10 years of age), adolescence (11-19 years of age), and young adulthood (20-24 years of age), and subsequent MS diagnosis.
The researchers evaluated nearly 2.5 million individuals born in Sweden between 1958 and 1994, and participants aged 20 years were followed up with every 15 years from 1978 through 2018 for subsequent MS diagnosis.
Of the 2,492,980 people evaluated, 5,867 (0.24 per cent) had an MS diagnosis after they were 20, according to the study, with the median age of diagnosis being 31.
"There were associations observed between infectious mononucleosis in childhood and adolescence and an increased risk for an MS diagnosis. This association remained significant after controlling for shared familial factors," the author's wrote.
However, the study notes that there was not a similar association between mono infection in early adulthood and subsequent MS diagnosis after taking into account family genetics.
Researchers report that this "age-defined pattern of risk" may reflect variation in susceptibility to infection exposures as the immune system develops and changes during adolescence.
The study had some limitations as mono diagnosed and treated in primary care could not be included, and hospital-based outpatient diagnoses were not available until 2001. Researchers note that this likely resulted in a selection of "more severe acute manifestations of the infection."
According to the study, some IM and MS diagnoses may be missing due to incomplete national coverage for inpatient registrations before 1987, as well as the unavailability of outpatient information before 2001.
While the IM infection itself is not a risk factor for triggering MS, the study's authors say it could help to identify those more likely to have MS later on.
"Our findings lend further weight to the notion that Epstein-Barr virus plays a role in pathogenesis, where the pattern of exposure and acute manifestation of the infection are relevant, rather than being a bystander phenomenon due to MS disease activity or susceptibility to MS resulting in a greater likelihood of IM," the study's authors wrote.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.