Regional variation in prevalence of antibody against human T-lymphotropic virus types I and III in Kenya, East Africa.
The prevalence of antibodies against HTLV-III and -I was studied among populations of 6 distinctly different regions of Kenya, an equatorial African country in which AIDS has rarely been observed. Overall, 21% of subjects had ELISA reactions suggesting the presence of antibody against HTLV-III. The frequency of HTLV-III antibodies was highest among the Turkana people (50%) and lowest among the Masai (8%). Prevalence increased with age but was not related to sex. The pattern of ELISA-detected antibody against HTLV-I was similar. The specificity of these antibodies was supported by Western blot analysis of a subset of sera with high and low ELISA ratios, in which 66% and 73% of those with ELISA ratios considered positive (= greater than 5.0 in this study) also had a profile of bands consistent with HTLV-III and HTLV-I respectively. The antibodies detected were not cross-reactive between HTLV-III and HTLV-I on Western blot analysis. In a series of subjects with various parasitic and infectious diseases, patients with idiopathic splenomegaly and with schistosomiasis had a high proportion of antibodies against both HTLV-III and HTLV-I. This survey shows that reactivity in the ELISA HTLV-III and HTLV-I assays are common among Kenyans but vary considerably by region.
Biggar
R J
RJ
Johnson
B K
BK
Oster
C
C
Sarin
P S
PS
Ocheng
D
D
Tukei
P
P
Nsanze
H
H
Alexander
S
S
Bodner
A J
AJ
Siongok
T A
TA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D017977:Deltaretrovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D003710:Demography; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D012698:Serologic Tests
D000914:Antibodies, Viral