SPACE-TIME CLUSTERING OF MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS CASES AROUND BIRTH

Objectives - To investigate whether infectious events around birth and during early infancy are likely to be of relevance in MS pathogenesis . Subjects and methods - Data are available from two regions in The Ne therlands: Groningen (n = 320) and Rotterdam (n = 226). Simultaneous c lustering in birth date and birth location of MS cases is tested by th e methods of Mantel, Knox and Jacquez. Results - No evidence was found for a space-time interaction between place and time of birth. Conclus ion - Perinatal infectious events are unlikely to be a major factor in determining MS susceptibility. (C) Munksgaard 1998.