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Naughton P, Enright F, Lucey B. Infectious mononucleosis: new concepts in clinical presentation, epidemiology, and host response. Curr Opin Infect Dis 2024; 37:157-163. [PMID: 38529804 DOI: 10.1097/qco.0000000000001012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Infectious mononucleosis (IM) is an infectious disease that presents clinically in only a small percentage of individuals despite almost universal infection with the causative agent. Here, we review the latest concepts in the clinical presentation, epidemiology, and host response of this disease. RECENT FINDINGS Several recently published papers/reviews describe IM as a condition caused by one of several etiologic agents including, cytomegalovirus (HHV-5), Roseola virus (HHV-6) and Toxoplasmosis amongst others; this review focuses on IM as solely caused by the human herpes virus 4 (HHV-4). Since the initial discovery of the virus in the 1960s and its subsequent discovery as the primary etiologic agent for IM it has been associated with several human cancers and autoimmune disorders. Recent published findings show a correlation between HHV-4 and the autoimmune disorder, multiple sclerosis (MS), suggesting earlier IM could possibly act as a causative factor. Considering the important links being made with IM to so many cancers and autoimmune disorders it is surprising that a standard investigative procedure has yet to be determined for this disease. A standard approach to the investigation of IM would ensure more cases are diagnosed, particularly atypical cases, this would benefit epidemiological studies, and more immediately help practitioners distinguish viral from bacterial throat infections, enabling them to treat accordingly. SUMMARY The understanding of the latest concepts in clinical presentation, epidemiology and host response to IM would benefit greatly from the introduction of a standard procedure for its investigation and diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Naughton
- Department of Biological Sciences, Munster Technological University, Rossa Avenue, Bishopstown
- Department of Haematology
| | - Frances Enright
- Department of Paediatrics, Mercy University Hospital, Grenville Place, Cork, Ireland
| | - Brigid Lucey
- Department of Biological Sciences, Munster Technological University, Rossa Avenue, Bishopstown
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Rostgaard K, Søegaard SH, Stensballe LG, Hjalgrim H. Antimicrobials use and infection hospital contacts as proxies of infection exposure at ages 0-2 years and risk of infectious mononucleosis. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21251. [PMID: 38040892 PMCID: PMC10692188 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-48509-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Infectious mononucleosis (IM) often results from late primary infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Exposure to EBV at ages 0-2 years from, e.g., siblings therefore protects against IM. Using Danish registers, we therefore followed children born in 1997 through 2015 from age 3 years for a hospital contact with an IM diagnosis as outcome with the number of antimicrobial prescriptions filled before age 3 years as a proxy of infection pressure and the main exposure in stratified Cox regressions. The main analyses used sibships as strata primarily to adjust for health-seeking behaviour with further possible adjustments for age, sex, calendar period and sibship constellation. In these analyses we followed 7087 children, exposed on average to 3.76 antimicrobials prescriptions. We observed a crude hazard ratio for IM per unit increase in cumulative antimicrobial use of 1.00 (95% confidence interval 0.99, 1.02), with similar results in adjusted analyses. The hypothesis that children with the largest use of antimicrobials at ages 0-2 years would subsequently have the lowest risk of IM within a sibship was not corroborated by the data. Furthermore, sibship-matched analyses provided no support for some common early-life immune system characteristics being predictive of IM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Rostgaard
- Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Signe Holst Søegaard
- Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lone Graff Stensballe
- Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Henrik Hjalgrim
- Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Hematology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Rostgaard K, Nielsen NM, Melbye M, Frisch M, Hjalgrim H. Siblings reduce multiple sclerosis risk by preventing delayed primary Epstein-Barr virus infection. Brain 2023; 146:1993-2002. [PMID: 36317463 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awac401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Epstein-Barr virus infection, and perhaps almost exclusively delayed Epstein-Barr virus infection, seems to be a prerequisite for the development of multiple sclerosis. Siblings provide protection against infectious mononucleosis by occasionally preventing delayed primary Epstein-Barr virus infection, with its associated high risk of infectious mononucleosis. Each additional sibling provides further protection according to the age difference between the index child and the sibling. The closer the siblings are in age, the higher the protection, with younger siblings being more protective against infectious mononucleosis than older siblings. If the hypothesis that delayed Epstein-Barr virus infection is necessary for the development of multiple sclerosis is true, then the relative risk of multiple sclerosis as a function of sibship constellation should mirror the relative risk of infectious mononucleosis as a function of sibship constellation. Such an indirect hypothesis test is necessitated by the fact that age at primary Epstein-Barr virus infection is unknown for practically all people who have not experienced infectious mononucleosis. In this retrospective cohort study using nationwide registers, we followed all Danes born during the period 1971-2018 (n = 2 576 011) from 1977 to 2018 for hospital contacts with an infectious mononucleosis diagnosis (n = 23 905) or a multiple sclerosis diagnosis (n = 4442), defining two different end points. Relative risks (hazard ratios) of each end point as a function of sibship constellation were obtained from stratified Cox regression analyses. The hazard ratios of interest for infectious mononucleosis and multiple sclerosis could be assumed to be identical (test for homogeneity P = 0.19), implying that having siblings, especially of younger age, may protect a person against multiple sclerosis through early exposure to the Epstein-Barr virus. Maximum protection per sibling was obtained by having a 0-2 years younger sibling, corresponding to a hazard ratio of 0.80, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.76-0.85. The corresponding hazard ratio from having an (0-2 years) older sibling was 0.91 (0.86-0.96). Our results suggest that it may be possible essentially to eradicate multiple sclerosis using an Epstein-Barr virus vaccine administered before the teenage years. Getting there would require both successful replication of our study findings and, if so, elucidation of why early Epstein-Barr virus infection does not usually trigger the immune mechanisms responsible for the association between delayed Epstein-Barr virus infection and multiple sclerosis risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Rostgaard
- Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Nete Munk Nielsen
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mads Melbye
- K.G. Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Center for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Morten Frisch
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Henrik Hjalgrim
- Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Hematology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Søegaard SH, Rostgaard K, Kamper-Jørgensen M, Schmiegelow K, Hjalgrim H. Childcare attendance and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: A register study based on the Danish childcare database. Int J Cancer 2023; 152:1817-1826. [PMID: 36545888 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.34413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is suggested to result from a dysregulated immune response to infections in children with a preleukaemic state. Childcare in early life supposedly may protect against childhood ALL by facilitating sufficient exposure to infections to stimulate and ensure normal maturation of the immune system. We assessed the association between childcare attendance before age 2 years and risk of childhood ALL in a register-based cohort study, including all children aged 2 to 14 years born in Denmark during 1991 to 2014 with available childcare information recorded in the Danish Childcare Database (n = 1 116 185). Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) comparing children enrolled in childcare and children not enrolled before age 2 years. Further, we assessed the association according to age at enrolment, type of childcare facility and specific ALL subtypes. During 10 460 811 person-years of follow-up, 460 children developed ALL at ages 2 to 14 years. Of these, 57 (12.4%) never attended childcare before age 2 years compared with 10.6% in the total cohort. Compared with homecare, childcare attendance before age 2 years was associated with a statistically non-significantly, marginally decreased risk of childhood ALL with adjusted HR = 0.87 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.65-1.16). Risk estimates did neither vary statistically significantly by age at enrolment nor by type of childcare facility and also not between childhood ALL subtypes, including frequently prenatally initiated ALL subtypes. Results from this large, nationwide register-based study provided no evidence that childcare attendance in the first years of life protects against childhood ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Signe Holst Søegaard
- Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Klaus Rostgaard
- Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Kjeld Schmiegelow
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Henrik Hjalgrim
- Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Haematology, University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Søegaard SH, Spanggaard M, Rostgaard K, Kamper-Jørgensen M, Stensballe LG, Schmiegelow K, Hjalgrim H. Childcare attendance and risk of infections in childhood and adolescence. Int J Epidemiol 2022; 52:466-475. [PMID: 36413040 DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyac219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
It has been suggested that the transiently increased infection risk following childcare enrolment is compensated by decreased infection risk later in childhood and adolescence. We investigated how childcare enrolment affected rates of antimicrobial-treated infections during childhood and adolescence.
Methods
In a register-based cohort study of all children born in Denmark 1997–2014 with available exposure information (n = 1 007 448), we assessed the association between childcare enrolment before age 6 years and infection risks up to age 20 years, using antimicrobial exposure as proxy for infections. Nationwide childcare and prescription data were used. We estimated infection rates and the cumulative number of infections using adjusted Poisson regression models.
Results
We observed 4 599 993 independent episodes of infection (antimicrobial exposure) during follow-up. Childcare enrolment transiently increased infection rates; the younger the child, the greater the increase. The resulting increased cumulative number of infections associated with earlier age at childcare enrolment was not compensated by lower infection risk later in childhood or adolescence. Accordingly, children enrolled in childcare before age 12 months had experienced 0.5–0.7 more infections at age 6 years (in total 4.5–5.1 infections) than peers enrolled at age 3 years, differences that persisted throughout adolescence. The type of childcare had little impact on infection risks.
Conclusions
Early age at childcare enrolment is associated with a modest increase in the cumulative number of antimicrobial-treated infections at all ages through adolescence. Emphasis should be given to disrupting infectious disease transmission in childcare facilities through prevention strategies with particular focus on the youngest children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Signe Holst Søegaard
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut , Copenhagen, Denmark
- Haematology, Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Danish Cancer Society , Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Maria Spanggaard
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut , Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Klaus Rostgaard
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut , Copenhagen, Denmark
- Haematology, Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Danish Cancer Society , Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mads Kamper-Jørgensen
- Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lone Graff Stensballe
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Rigshospitalet , Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Kjeld Schmiegelow
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Rigshospitalet , Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Henrik Hjalgrim
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut , Copenhagen, Denmark
- Haematology, Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Danish Cancer Society , Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Haematology, University Hospital Rigshospitalet , Copenhagen, Denmark
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Husby A, Corn G, Grove Krause T. SARS-CoV-2 infection in households with and without young children: Nationwide cohort study, Denmark, 27 February 2020 to 26 February 2021. EURO SURVEILLANCE : BULLETIN EUROPEEN SUR LES MALADIES TRANSMISSIBLES = EUROPEAN COMMUNICABLE DISEASE BULLETIN 2022; 27. [PMID: 35959688 PMCID: PMC9373601 DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2022.27.32.2101096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
BackgroundInfections with seasonally spreading coronaviruses are common among young children during winter months in the northern hemisphere; the immunological response lasts around a year. However, it is not clear if living with young children changes the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among adults.AimOur aim was to investigate the association between living in a household with younger children and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infections and hospitalisation.MethodsIn a nationwide cohort study, we followed all adults in Denmark aged 18 to 60 years from 27 February 2020 to 26 February 2021. Hazard ratios of SARS-CoV-2 infection by number of 10 months to 5 year-old children in the household were estimated using Cox regression adjusted for adult age, sex and other potential confounders. In a sensitivity analysis, we investigated the effect of the children's age.ResultsAmong 450,007 adults living in households with young children, 19,555 were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, while among 2,628,500 adults without young children in their household, 110,069 were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.10; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08-1.12). Among adults with young children, 620 were hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2, while 4,002 adults without children were hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2 (aHR = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.88-1.08). Sensitivity analyses found that an increasing number of younger children substantially increased the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection but not hospitalisation.ConclusionLiving in a household with young children was associated with a small increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anders Husby
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Giulia Corn
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Tyra Grove Krause
- Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
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