title: [Prevalence of antibody to adult T-cell leukemia virus in Hokkaido District].
abstract: In order to investigate the spread of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) virus in the inhabitants of ATL-non-endemic Hokkaido, we surveyed the antibodies to ATL-associated antigen (ATLA) in 29516 healthy individuals by indirect immunofluorescence test using MT-1 for target cell. Of the healthy inhabitants, only 219 individuals (0.74%) were anti-ATLA positive as carriers. Prevalence of anti-ATLA was 0.63% (111 of 17590) in males and 0.91% (108 of 11926) in females. This difference by sex is significant. In several regions, the inhabitants were found to show relatively high incidence (greater than 2%) of the antibodies, and these regions have a tendency to cluster around the western side of Hidaka mountains or Akan area. The highest rate (5.2%) of anti-ATLA positive carriers was shown in a certain town of Hidaka area.
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sekiguchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iwanaga
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Higuchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017977:Deltaretrovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan; D007938:Leukemia / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies