ENVIRONMENTAL RISK-FACTORS FOR SUBACUTE SCLEROSING PANENCEPHALITIS (SSPE)

In Israel, SSPE has been shown to be much more frequent among Sephardi c Jews and Arabs than among Ashkenazic Jews. In the present study, we tried to explore environmental factors that may be of etiological impo rtance and explain these differences in prevalence. The study is a cas e-control one, which includes 95 patients and 2 groups of controls, wi th 95 people in each. The general population controls were group-match ed to the case group by sex, age, and ethnic origin. The family contro ls consisted of the sibling closest in age to each patient. A statisti cally significant positive correlation was found between risk of SSPE and early measles infection, large family, overcrowding in the home, o lder age of the mother, higher birth order, fewer years of schooling o f the parents, fewer cultural activities, and rural place of birth. Al l these factors are interpreted as contributing to a higher risk of ea rly measles infections, which thus may well be the main risk factor fo r SSPE.