title: Declining seroprevalence and transmission of HTLV-I in Japanese families who immigrated to Hawaii.
abstract: This study examined the seroprevalence and transmission of human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in Japanese families who originated in Okinawa, an area in which HTLV-I is endemic, and who were currently residing in Hawaii, a nonendemic area. Among a cohort of Japanese men whose sera were collected in Hawaii in 1967-1975, those of Okinawan ancestry had an HTLV-I seroprevalence of 11.4%. This study, conducted in 1987-1988, sampled 142 index subjects from this male cohort and tested them along with their wives, children, and spouses of the children for HTLV-I antibodies. Seropositivity in their wives was 11.4% and 41.2% among the seronegative and seropositive index subjects, respectively; seropositivity also increased from 29.4% to 35.3% to 58.8% with the husbands' increasing antibody levels by tertiles. Elevated antibody levels may be a marker for infectivity, which is associated with more efficient sexual transmission of HTLV-I. The age-adjusted odds ratio for the association of seropositivity between husband and wife, however, was four times lower than that reported among native Okinawans. In addition, a substantially low seroprevalence (1.3%) was found among their offspring. The decline in HTLV-I transmission in this migrant population may be due to low infectivity in the parent generation who live in a nonendemic environment, increasing numbers of offspring marrying outside of the Okinawan community, and improved living circumstances.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: G Y
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Polk
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Blattner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005190:Family; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006254:Hawaii / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral