EBV Causes Mental Impairment in Children

Primary Epstein-Barr virus infections in children have traditionally been considered asymptomatic, or causing merely temporary malaise. However, a new study has implicated EBV in neurological deficits in children, finding five cases within a year just in the small state of Rhode Island. And, there are probably a much greater number of less serious cases. EBV is known to occur much earlier in life in lower socioeconomic groups. None of the anti-smoker studies blaming parental smoking for children's impulsivity, inappropriate behavior, lack of cognitive skills and judgment, etc., has ever considered the role of this or any other infection. They pass out lifestyle questionnaires, and falsely pretend that this is sufficient to control for confounding. Therefore, this claim should be considered yet another example of confounding by infection, and thrown on the junk heap with the rest.

Persistent preceding focal neurological deficits in children with chronic Epstein-Barr encephalitis. JM Caruso, GA Tung, GC Gascon, J Rogg, I Davis, WD Brown. J Child Neurol 2000 Dec;15(12):791-796. "Also, Dr. Caruso told Reuters Health, 'serum tests may come back negative, and physicians would think the patient doesn't have that disorder. Just like in varicella, it can show up negative in serum but positive in CSF polymerase chain reaction testing." (Reuters Health 2001. http://id.medscape.com/34020.rhtml link died)

Neurological complications of acute and persistent Epstein-Barr virus infection in paediatric patients. M. Hausler, VT Ramaekers, M Doenges, K Schweizer, K Ritter, L Schaade.  J Med Virol 2002 Oct;68(2):253-263. "Neurological complications of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) have been reported almost exclusively in the course of acute primary infections. The role of EBV in paediatric neurological disease was investigated prospectively over a 2-year period, searching for acute primary, chronic, and reactivated EBV infections. Active EBV infections were diagnosed in 10/48 patients, including two with acute primary EBV infections (cranial neuritis and cerebellitis), one with chronic active infection (T/NK cell lymphoma with cranial neuritis), and seven with reactivated infections."

What incites new daily persistent headache in children? KJ Mack. Pediatr Neurol 2004 Aug;31(2):122-125. "This study asked what incites the development of a new daily persistent headache in children. A total of 175 children with chronic daily headache were prospectively identified and observed by the author. Of these patients, 40 (23%) with a new daily persistent headache were identified. These patients had no significant prior headache history. Seventeen patients (43%) had the onset of their symptoms during an infection. Of these patients, over half had positive Epstein-Barr virus serology at the onset of symptoms."

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Effect of Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy on Offspring's Cognitive Ability: Empirical Evidence for Complete Confounding in the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. G. David Batty, PhD, Geoff Der, MS and Ian J. Deary, PhD. Pediatrics 2006 Sep;118(3):943-950.

BACKGROUND. Numerous studies have reported that maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy is related to lower IQ scores in the offspring. Confounding is a crucial issue in interpreting this association.

METHODS. In the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, IQ was ascertained serially during childhood using the Peabody Individual Achievement Test, the total score for which comprises results on 3 subtests: mathematics, reading comprehension, and reading recognition. Maternal IQ was assessed by using the Armed Forces Qualification Test. There were 5578 offspring (born to 3145 mothers) with complete information for maternal smoking habits, total Peabody Individual Achievement Test score, and covariates.

RESULTS. The offspring of mothers who smoked 1 pack of cigarettes per day during pregnancy had an IQ score (Peabody Individual Achievement Test total) that was, on average, 2.87 points lower than children born to nonsmoking mothers. Separate control for maternal education (0.27-IQ-point decrement) and, to a lesser degree, maternal IQ (1.51-IQ-point decrement) led to marked attenuation of the maternal-smoking–offspring-IQ relation. A similar pattern of results was seen when Peabody Individual Achievement Test subtest results were the outcomes of interest. The only exception was the Peabody Individual Achievement Test mathematics score, in which adjusting for maternal IQ essentially led to complete attenuation of the maternal-smoking–offspring-IQ gradient (0.66-IQ-point decrement). The impact of controlling for physical, behavioral, and other social indices was much less pronounced than for maternal education or IQ.

CONCLUSIONS. These findings suggest that previous studies that did not adjust for maternal education and/or IQ may have overestimated the association of maternal smoking with offspring cognitive ability.

Depression in medical illness: the role of the immune system. R Yirmiya. West J Med 2000;173(5):333-336.

Raised levels of plasma interleukin-1beta in major and postviral depression. BM Owen, D Eccleston, LN Ferrier, H Young. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 2001;103(3):226-228; and: Further evidence of cytokine involvement in major and post-viral depression. Veronica Rose, Doctor's Guide 2001 Apr 2.

Borna disease virus linked with severe mood disorders. Medscape - Reuters Health news re: Mol Psychiatry 2001;6:481-491. A more sensitive immune assay finds that immune complex levels are 10 times higher than with earlier methods.

CMV Causes Mental Decline

Impact of viral and bacterial burden on cognitive impairment in elderly persons with cardiovascular diseases. SE Strandberg, KH Pitkala, KH Linnavuori, RS Tilvis. Stroke 2003 Sep;34(9):2126-2131. Among 383 home-dwelling elderly with cardiovascular diseases (mean age, 80 years): "At baseline, 58 individuals (15.1%) had cognitive impairment, which after adjustments was significantly associated with seropositivity for 3 viruses (hazard ratio, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.3 to 4.7). MMSE score decreased in 150 (43% of 348) during 12-month follow-up. After adjustment for MMSE score at baseline and with 0 to 1 seropositivities as reference (1.0), the hazard ratios were 1.8 (95% CI, 0.9 to 3.6) and 2.3 (95% CI, 1.1 to 5.0) for 2 and 3 seropositivities, respectively. The prevalence of possible or definite dementia according to CDR also increased with viral burden. No significant associations were observed between bacterial burden and cognition." They noted that "all our study participants had some kind of atherosclerotic disease at baseline, which may attenuate the observed association between infection and cognitive impairment."

The influence of latent viral infection on rate of cognitive decline over 4 years. AE Aiello, M Haan, L Blythe, K Moore, JM Gonzalez, W Jagust. J Am Geriatr Soc 2006 Jul;54(7):1046-1054. In 1204 community-dwelling elderly aged 60 to 100, "[t]here was a significantly higher rate of cognitive decline over the 4-year period in subjects with the highest CMV antibody levels at baseline than in individuals with the lowest levels (beta=-0.053, standard error =0.018; P=.003), after controlling for age, sex, education, income, and chronic health conditions. There was no association between HSV-1 antibody levels and cognitive decline. CRP did not modify the relationship between viral antibody levels and cognitive decline."

cast 03-05-07