title: Epidemic patterns of hepatitis type B virus (HBV) and human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in two ATL-endemic islands in Kyushu, Japan.
abstract: To evaluate the relationships between human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) and hepatitis virus type B (HBV) infections, we compared both individual and geographical distributions of carriers of HTLV-I and HBV, and antibody positives to HBV in two ATL-endemic islands in Kyushu, Japan. The positive rates of antibodies to HTLV-I (anti-HTLV-I-Ab) in sera among healthy inhabitants older than 30 years of age were 27.5% (617/2,232) in Nakadohri, Goto Island and 24.0% (500/2,048) in Shimo-agata, Tsushima Island. The positive rates for surface antigen of hepatitis B virus (HBs-Ag) in sera among the same subjects were 6.4% and 2.5%, respectively. In Nakadohri, the age-adjusted positive rates of HBs-Ag and antibody to HBs-Ag (anti-HBs-Ab) in anti-HTLV-I-Ab positives (so-called HTLV-I carriers) differed little from those in negatives. In Shimo-agata, the geographical distribution of HBs-Ag positives (so-called HBV carriers) showed no positive association with that of HTLV-I carriers. These results did not support the positive correlations between HTLV-I and HBV infections among the general population in ATL-endemic areas in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Izuhara Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tachibana
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shirahama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagatomo
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tajima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens