Jpc. Gaudet et al., IS SPORADIC MS CAUSED BY AN INFECTION OF ADOLESCENCE AND EARLY ADULTHOOD - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF BIRTH-ORDER POSITION, Acta neurologica Scandinavica, 91(1), 1995, pp. 19-21
Birth order position was examined in 164 cases with sporadic multiple
sclerosis (MS), i.e. no other family members with MS, and spousal cont
rols, matched for sibship size, socioeconomic status and opposite sex.
The results did not find an association between birth order position
and the subsequent development of MS and thus do not support the conce
pt of an infectious cause for MS where ''early exposure'' is protectiv
e and exposure to the infection is a single event of short duration.