Measles and Vaccinia Antibodies in Multiple Sclerosis

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Abstract
To the Editor.— Finding elevated levels of vaccinia antibodies in CSF in 30% of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) seriously implicated vaccinia virus.1,2These reports complemented the finding of elevated levels of measles antibodies in CSF recorded previously from many laboratories implicating measles virus.3-5To my knowledge, no reports have appeared confirming the finding of high levels of antibodies tobothvaccinia and measles virus in CSF of patients with MS. In the original report by Kempe and associates,1including this writer, specimens from 25 patients with MS had been previously studied, and three were found to have elevated titers to measles virus and vaccinia virus in their sera and CSF (Table). The pathogenesis is not clearly understood, but most recently Gutstein and Cohen6showed that antibodies enter the spinal fluid from the serum by passive diffusion. They state further, "This mechanism may also explain the presence

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