Epstein-Barr Virus: An Infectious Cause For COPD?

Main Category: COPD
Article Date: 29 May 2008 - 0:00 PST

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Terence McManus (Mater Hospital, Belfast, UK) and his colleagues examined the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the umbrella medical term used nowadays for bronchitis and emphysema.

COPD is a common respiratory condition, for which smoking is the most frequently found risk factor. It is thought to be the fourth most common cause of death worldwide and the World Health Organization anticipates that by 2020 it will have become the third.

The authors tested subjects with and without this disease for the presence of EBV. They found that EBV was much more commonly found in those patients who had developed COPD.

EBV may be important in the development of this common condition, which is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Further studies are underway to confirm this finding in at-risk people who have smoked.

Title of original article-
High levels of Epstein-Barr virus in COPD

The European Respiratory Journal is the peer-reviewed scientific publication of the European Respiratory Society (more than 8,000 specialists in lung diseases and respiratory medicine in Europe, the United States and Australia).

European Respiratory Journal