Table 4.29.

Literature data on infections and relapses of multiple sclerosis

Study	Number of patients	Time window of exposure to the infection	Relapse rate/year		Relative risk	p value (chi-squared test)
			Period at risk	Period not at risk
Sibley et al 1985	170	−2 to +5 weeks	0.64	0.23	2.8	<0.001
Andersen et al 1993	60	−1 to +3 weeks	1.70	1.29	1.3	0.048
		−2 to +5 weeks	1.51	1.33	1.1	0.20
Panitch 1994	30	−1 to +5 weeks	2.92	1.16	2.5	<0.001
Edwards et al 1998	41	−2 to +2 weeks	3.27	1.62	2.0	0.004
Buljevac et al 2002	73	−2 to +5 weeks	2.05	0.97	2.1	<0.001