title: Type-I HTLV antibody in urban and rural Ghana, West Africa.
abstract: The prevalence of antibodies against the newly described human T-cell lymphoma virus, type I (HTLV-I) in two communities in Ghana, West Africa, is described. There was no difference by community (urban, 3.6% and rural, 4.0%). Prevalence increased with age, being 5.9% among persons greater than 10 years old, but did not differ by sex. There was no difference when data were analysed by housing status or crowding. Non-confirmed reactions in the assay system were frequent and correlated with both prevalence and titer of antibody against malaria. Possible explanations include vector-borne transmission like that of malaria, but the relationship is more probably due to a polyclonal stimulation of B cells, enhancing the potential for detecting reactivity in the assay. Because assay systems vary and because most laboratories do not routinely use a confirmation assay, results presented by different groups must be interpreted cautiously.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017977:Deltaretrovirus / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D000914:Antibodies, Viral