I'm wondering how many of you have ever had Epstein-Barr virus? I had Mono when I was in the 9th grade, and if I remember correctly, I had a horribly swollen throat and had to take naps in the nurses office for 3-4 weeks, because I would practically fall asleep in my classes. With the studies that are out, showing that there may be a correlation between EBV and MS I am a bit concerned because my daughter had it pretty bad last fall. I sure hope there will be a way to know what her odds are, and if there was anything we can do to protect her.

I'm sure you'll get many better responses than mine, but if it makes you feel any better (and I know it's hard when your kids are involved), nearly everyone has the antibody for EBV, which means nearly everyone has had it in some form or another, to one degree or another, at some point in there lives. From what I understand, it may serve as a trigger, but is not the cause.

Thanks Polar...I do worry about my DD, but I would just like some peace of mind knowing if there were a way to 'prevent' her from the possibility. Autoimmune diseases do run in my family...Mom has had Scleroderma for @ 20 years, my maternal Grandmother had SEVERE Rhumatoid Arthritis, my Mom's uncle has Parkinsons, sister -mild Rhumatoid has started....etc, etc, etc. I just need to keep thinking positive, since that is really what I try to focus on, but sometimes the research information makes me start to worry again, but I don't know I could ever 'not worry' about the kids....so I'll pull my big girl panties on!

You can protect her with Vitamin D....Please read the following article.
http://www.webmd.com/multiple-sclero...may-prevent-ms

also, if you google 'Vit D to prevent MS'....you will get a lot of info.

Nope, never had it. Go figure.

But I do get strep throat twice a year and at least one sinus infection per season change.

I don't know if I ever had EBV, but Strep and Mono were probably my triggers and my DD had Strep and shingles at a young age, probably as precursers to her MS.

All of these illnesses lead you right back to the Herpes Virus(6, I believe)

I was tested for it several times, and always rang up negative. I chose the option that best fit "maybe but never diagnosed"

When I was in my late 20's I was dx'd with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Then In my early 30's dx'd with EBS. so I have had sx for a long time but wasn't dx'd with MS until my mid 40's. Go figure

I tested positive for EBV and got a severe case of mono that lasted for almost a year when I was 38 years old. 7 months after that I started having MS symptoms. I had never had any strange MS type symptoms before the mono. I am pretty much convinced that the EBV tripped the switch!

Never had EBV and one of the few that have normal Vitamin D levels. Outdoorsy sort of person and drank a ton of milk as a kid - bones are very strong and it took 6 years for my braces to accomplish the job of straightening my teeth because of it. I have a couple of permenant retainers to keep it that way too. It took downing a motorcycle to get a hairline fracture on a bone, and was the first time I ever had something break. Considering how many trees and stuff I fell out of as a kid, major surprise.

I have other possible risk factors that may have led to an MS trigger, but who knows with this thing? I chalk it up to being the lotto winner of the genetics in my family.