Résumé :
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[BDSP. Notice produite par INIST R0xMbFKb. Diffusion soumise à autorisation]. The environmental factor causing multiple sclerosis (MS) is unknown. Kurtzke et al. (Neurologg 1979 ; 29 : 1228-1235) depicted a north to south diminishing gradient in the case/control ratios for MS among American veterans in the United States. A similar, but less precise, gradient emerged when the incidence rates of varicella from 37 states during 1978-91 were compared. A loose correlation appears to exist between the mean incidence of varicella and the MS risk ratio (n=0.344 Spearman rank correlation coefficient, p=0.037). Further, the data on the fate of migrants moving from a high risk MS country to a low risk country and the reverse, plus the great importance of the age at migration, raise the question of a possible connection between the two diseases. Because of these epidemiological and other similarities between the two diseases a further comparative study was suggested.
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