HTLV-I infection among prostitutes and pregnant women in Kinshasa, Zaïre: how important is high-risk sexual behavior?
High-risk sexual behavior as risk factor for human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection was assessed in cross-sectional studies with 1,183 prostitutes and 1,166 pregnant women in Kinshasa, Zaire. Eighty six (7.3%) prostitutes were positive for HTLV-I. The seroprevalence among prostitutes from the regions along the equator was 12.7%, whereas among prostitutes from the other regions it ranged between 0 and 4.3%. In the prostitutes from the high-prevalence regions, but not in the prostitutes from the low-prevalence regions, HTLV-I infection was associated with increasing age [odds ratio (OR) = 1.1 per year increment], active syphilis (OR = 2.3), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (OR = 2.0). Forty three (3.7%) pregnant women were HTLV-I seropositive. Among the women from low-prevalence regions, there was no significant difference in HTLV-I seroprevalence between prostitutes (4.3%) and pregnant women (3.5%). In a group of 409 prostitutes who were observed for a mean duration of 23 months, the incidence of HTLV-I infection was 0.7 per 100 women-years, whereas the incidence of HIV infection was 9.8 per 100 women-years. We conclude that in Kinshasa prostitution per se was not associated with an increased risk of HTLV-I infection.
Delaporte
E
E
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
Buvé
A
A
Nzila
N
N
Goeman
J
J
Dazza
M C
MC
Henzel
D
D
Heyward
W
W
St-Louis
M
M
Piot
P
P
Laga
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D011477:Sex Work; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D013587:Syphilis / Q000150:complications