Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, 94 Mallett St, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.
Central West Neurology and Neurosurgery, 93 Byng St, Orange, NSW, 2800, Australia.
J Neurol. 2016 Apr;263(4):792-8. doi: 10.1007/s00415-016-8059-6. Epub 2016 Feb 25.
Our previous work suggested that migrants from the United Kingdom and Ireland (UKI) to Australia who left their home country at a young age had a longer interval between immigration and onset and likely acquired MS in Australia. In the present study, we reassessed Australian-born cases of MS identified in Hobart, Tasmania, a relatively high-risk zone, in our 1981 survey and compared these with cases of MS in UKI immigrants incident in Australia. The incidence of MS in Australian-born residents rose from 1.63 per 100,000 in 1941-1965 to 3.48 per 100,000 in 1966-1981. The bulk of UKI immigrants who developed MS in Australia migrated after the age of 15 years, and likely acquired their disease in the UKI. The mean interval from immigration to onset differed significantly (p < 0.01) between those migrating before (22 years) versus after (6 years) the age of 15, suggesting acquisition of MS in Australia in the former group. Identified environmental risk factors such as smoking, sunlight and exposure to Epstein-Barr virus do not fully account for the epidemiology of multiple sclerosis. The apparent introduction of MS into Hobart from the mid-1940s on could provide circumstantial support for the theory that MS is a transmissible disease.
我们之前的工作表明，年轻时从英国和爱尔兰（UKI）移民到澳大利亚的移民，他们的移民和发病之间的间隔时间更长，并且可能在澳大利亚获得多发性硬化症。在本研究中，我们重新评估了在 1981 年调查中在塔斯马尼亚州霍巴特发现的澳大利亚出生的多发性硬化症病例，并将这些病例与澳大利亚发生的 UKI 移民多发性硬化症病例进行了比较。澳大利亚出生的居民多发性硬化症的发病率从 1941-1965 年的每 100,000 人 1.63 上升到 1966-1981 年的每 100,000 人 3.48。在澳大利亚患有多发性硬化症的大多数 UKI 移民在 15 岁以后移民，并且可能在 UKI 获得了他们的疾病。移民到发病的平均间隔时间在 15 岁之前（22 年）与之后（6 年）之间有显著差异（p<0.01），表明前者在澳大利亚获得多发性硬化症。已确定的环境危险因素，如吸烟、阳光和接触爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒，不能完全解释多发性硬化症的流行病学。多发性硬化症从 20 世纪 40 年代中期开始明显引入霍巴特，可以为多发性硬化症是一种传染性疾病的理论提供间接证据。
