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- Title
A Genetic Basis for Infectious Mononucleosis: Evidence From a Family Study of Hospitalized Cases in Denmark.
- Authors
Rostgaard, Klaus; Wohlfahrt, Jan; Hjalgrim, Henrik
- Abstract
We found that familial aggregation of infectious mononucleosis was associated with having an affected relative, with rate ratios ranging from 9.3 in same-sex twins to 1.0 in third-degree relatives, which is best explained by genetic factors and/or gene–environment interactions.Background. Circumstantial evidence from genome-wide association and family studies of various Epstein-Barr virus–associated diseases suggests a substantial genetic component in infectious mononucleosis (IM) etiology. However, familial aggregation of IM has scarcely been studied.Methods. We used data from the Danish Civil Registration System and the Danish National Hospital Discharge Register to study rate ratios of IM in a cohort of 2 823 583 Danish children born between 1971 and 2011. Specifically, we investigated the risk of IM in twins and in first-, second-, and third-degree relatives of patients with IM. In the analyses, IM was defined as a diagnosis of IM in a hospital contact. Effects of contagion between family members were dealt with by excluding follow-up time the first year after the occurrence of IM in a relative.Results. A total of 16 870 cases of IM were observed during 40.4 million person-years of follow-up from 1977 to 2011. The rate ratios and the associated 95% confidence intervals were 9.3 (3.0–29) in same-sex twins, 3.0 (2.6–3.5) in siblings, 1.9 (1.6–2.2) in children, 1.4 (1.3–1.6) in second-degree relatives, and 1.0 (0.9–1.2) in third-degree relatives of IM patients. The rate ratios were very similar for IM in children (aged 0–6 years) and older children/adolescents (aged 7–19 years).Conclusions. We found evidence of familial aggregation of IM that warrants genome-wide association studies on IM disease etiology, especially to examine commonalities with causal pathways in other Epstein-Barr virus–related diseases.
- Subjects
DENMARK; DISEASES in twins; MONONUCLEOSIS; HLA histocompatibility antigens; COHORT analysis; PATIENTS; DIAGNOSIS
- Publication
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2014, Vol 58, Issue 12, p1684
- ISSN
1058-4838
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/cid/ciu204