title: HTLV-I and HIV-I antibody frequency in thalassemics and drug addicts in southeast Sicily.
abstract: HTLV-I (Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 1) and HIV-1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1) antibodies have been investigated in 702 sera samples from: 259 drug addicts nerve screened for HIV-1 (Group I), 43 drug addicts already identified as HIV-1 seropositive (Group II), 222 thalassemics (Group III) and 178 occasional blood donors (Group IV). The sera, collected from June 1984 to April 1989, were screened a first time with immunoenzymatic test and the samples proving positive were then confirmed by Western blot test. The seropositive frequency with Western blot for anti-HTLV I was 2.7% in Group I and 6.9% in Group II. Of the thalassemics, five of whom had been previously identified as seropositive for HIV-1, and of the blood donors, none proved to be seropositive for HTLV-I antibodies. With regard to HIV-1, a positive antibody response to the Western blot was found in 19.9% of the Group I subjects. Contemporaneous presence of HTLV-I and HIV-1 antibodies was found in five subjects.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra di Clinica delle Malattie Tropicale e Sub-Tropicali, Università degli Studi di Catania.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gulisano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciccia
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ienna
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cipolla
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mauro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012802:Sicily / Q000453:epidemiology; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D015483:HIV Antibodies