New study suggests hope on the horizon for people with multiple sclerosis

Sharon Ní Chonchúir, who has multiple sclerosis, says a new study linking a virus to the chronic inflammatory disease opens up the possibility of a cure

Sharon Ní Chonchúir is cautiously optimistic about new research from the Harvard School of Public Health linking MS to the Epstein-Barr Virus. Picture: Domnick Walsh 

In 2010, I became one of the 9,000 or so people in Ireland with MS. I also had a bad bout of glandular fever in my teens. Researchers now say there is a link between the two. According to a team at the Harvard School of Public Health, Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), the pathogen that can cause glandular fever, is also a cause for MS.

“Our study is the first that provides definitive evidence that MS is a rare complication of EBV infection,” says Professor Alberto Ascherio, one of the study authors.  “This is a big step because it suggests that most MS cases could be prevented by stopping EBV infection and that targeting EBV could lead to the discovery of a cure for MS.”