Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML) is an opportunistic infection whose classic histopathological triad of demyelination, bizarre astrocytes and oligodendrogial nuclear inclusion was first described in 1958. It was in 1971 that the polyoma virus, John Cunningham (JC), was discovered to be the cause of the infection. Click below to learn more.
It was not that long ago that neurologists recommended to patients to avoid getting pregnant for fear of worsening the disease course. We can now confidently affirm that multiple sclerosis does not affect pregnancy or the fetus. The risk of developing MS in the offspring is proportional to the genetic loading as pregnancy affects the course of the disease.
Vaccination is an important preventative measure for our MS patients.There is much debate whether a given therapy is immunosuppressive or not. In the author’s view, any therapy that can lead to any or all of the following is an immunosuppressive agent such as causing sustained lymphopenia and/or neutropenia and reducing the immune system.
