title: Regional variation in prevalence of antibody against human T-lymphotropic virus types I and III in Kenya, East Africa.
abstract: 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.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Biggar
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oster
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Sarin
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ocheng
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tukei
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nsanze
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Bodner
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Siongok
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral