title: Seroepidemiology of human T-lymphotropic virus type I infection among intravenous drug abusers in Taiwan.
abstract: In order to assess seroprevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection among intravenous drug abusers in Taiwan, serum samples were collected from 858 male study subjects. Antibodies against HTLV-I (anti-HTLV-I) in sera were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and confirmed by Western blotting. The overall prevalence of anti-HTLV-I (2.3%) in drug abusers was significantly higher than that in the general population in Taiwan with a relative risk of 4.9, but it was only slightly higher than that in prostitutes (1.9%). There was a statistically significant increase in prevalence with age. Drug abusers engaged in prostitution had a significantly higher prevalence (18.2%) than those who were not (2.1%). No significant association with anti-HTLV-I positivity was observed with marital status and educational level. Tatooed abusers had an increased prevalence (2.7%) compared with the untattooed (1.4%). Drug abusers tattooed before 1980 had a significantly higher prevalence (3.5%) than those tattooed after 1980 (0.8%). Anti-HTLV-I prevalence was higher for those who had been blood transfused (4.5%) than untransfused abusers (2.0%).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Republic of China.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D015897:Comorbidity; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D004522:Educational Status; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011329:Prisoners; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D011477:Sex Work; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013653:Tattooing
chemical_list: D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies