title: Transmission of HTLV-II via blood transfusion.
abstract: Transmission of HTLV-I by transfusion is well documented in Japan, where HTLV-I is endemic. In non endemic regions such as the United States, HTLV-I/II infection has been transmitted by transfusion as well, but no effort to distinguish HTLV-I from HTLV-II infection was made in these studies. There is a growing body of evidence that a substantial proportion of HTLV-I/II seropositivity in the US is due to infection with HTLV-II. We report 2 cases of apparent transfusion-transmitted HTLV-II infection and discuss the importance of distinguishing between the two viruses in blood donors and recipients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hjelle
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mertz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swenson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011533:Proviruses / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral