Abstract
I agree with Dr. Porter on the importance of historical analogies. Infectious mononucleosis is a case in point where investigators sought a single agent, but they did learn that two or three agents were involved. With respect to multiple sclerosis (MS), it may be the ultimate heresy to suggest that it could turn out to be quite unrelated to a viral infection. But it is important to keep an open mind in the initial stages of all etiologic inquiries. A perfect candidate for an infectious disease of the nervous system may be found, in the end, to be caused by something else. This misunderstanding happened in the case of pellagra where some very simple epidemiologic observation indicated that, although its distribution in families and seasonal peak suggested a viral origin, it was in fact a vitamin deficiency found in poor families before harvest time.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1977 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this paper
Cite this paper
Reid, D.D. (1977). Comment/Chapter 20. In: ter Meulen, V., Katz, M. (eds) Slow Virus Infections of the Central Nervous System. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-9883-0_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-9883-0_40
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9885-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-9883-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive