New advances for patients with multiple sclerosis could arise from a particularly important discovery, made in January by American researchers.

A team from Harvard University has demonstrated the link between the Epstein-Barr virus and this autoimmune disease which affects more than 2.8 million people worldwide, including around 110,000 in France according to data. of health insurance.

Multiple sclerosis, which progressively damages the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), represents the second cause of disability in young adults in France.

The Epstein-Barr virus is present in 95% of adults.

It can be the cause of other diseases such as mononucleosis or rheumatoid arthritis.

Most people infected have no complications, but the team of American researchers has proven that this virus is necessary for the development of multiple sclerosis.

"This is the first time that such a serious study, based on ten million patients followed for ten years, confirms what we already suspected about the link between the virus and the disease", explains neurologist Jean Pelletier, of the Foundation for Aid to Research on Multiple Sclerosis (Arsep), questioned Monday on the occasion of the World Day of this neurodegenerative disease.

A vaccine against multiple sclerosis?

"If this study gives rise to hope, it is because we can think that one day we will be able to vaccinate children against the Epstein-Barr virus and thus eliminate one of the triggers of multiple sclerosis. , which is multifactorial", explains the specialist.

The production of antiviral drugs is at the reflection stage and a laboratory has already started a first phase of clinical trials in early 2022 after the publication of this American study, rejoices Professor Jean Pelletier, who hopes that the research will go "as quickly than for the anti-Covid vaccine".

"This famous Epstein-Barr virus, once contracted, is hidden in our body in B lymphocytes, themselves involved in the inflammatory reaction linked to multiple sclerosis. This could explain in particular that certain treatments targeting lymphocytes B, monoclonal antibodies, are extremely effective against multiple sclerosis,” adds the neurologist.

He welcomes the provision, for ten years, of increasingly effective treatments, which make it possible to avoid certain outbreaks of this disease which most often causes inflammatory crises interspersed with phases of calm.

A diagnosis still too late

The widespread use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has made it possible to identify the disease earlier than before, which has an effect on the effectiveness of treatment.

However, the president of the French Association of Multiple Sclerosis (Afsep), Jocelyne Nouvet-Gire, still deplores a certain "wandering" of the diagnosis, which sometimes takes four to five years to fall after the appearance of the first symptoms (disorders sensitivity and balance, eye disorders).

The fault of a poor knowledge of this disease, according to Jocelyne Nouvet-Gire, herself suffering from multiple sclerosis.

"I see that many women do not necessarily go to the doctor for a diagnosis. They endure the pain more easily, take care of the children as a priority and put their medical appointments in the background," says Jocelyne Nouvet-Gire. , which also points to the waiting time, deemed too long – sometimes six months – for a consultation with the neurologist.

Shortage of places in specialized institutions

The discovery of a vaccine against multiple sclerosis will not change anything for patients who currently suffer from it, believes Jocelyne Nouvet-Gire, whose association focuses primarily on care once the diagnosis has been made by providing support social, legal and psychological.

Behind the announcement effect of this scientific discovery, it warns of another reality.

"The financial and human resources are sorely lacking", she regrets, especially in the global management of the handicap.

“There are not enough specialized structures in France to accommodate people with multiple sclerosis, five establishments with sixty beds each for a waiting list that we estimate at 2,000 people”, she specifies.

"Result: for some patients at home, the situation becomes chaotic."

Another reason for concern for Afsep: from the age of 60, patients cared for in specialized establishments are sent to nursing homes, "very often unsuitable" and whose major dysfunctions have been revealed by the shock wave of the book-investigation "Les Fossoyeurs" on the private group Orpea.

With AFP

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