Seroepidemiology of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I/II in northeastern Brazil.
We investigated the prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus I/II (HTLV-I/II) infection in Bahia, a state in Northeastern Brazil. Healthy individuals (n = 327) and patients (n = 337) with a variety of diseases were screened for antibodies to HTLV-I/II using an enzyme immunoassay and Western blot. The overall prevalence among healthy subjects was 1.8% (six of 327); among patients it was 18.4% (62 of 337). Patients with AIDS had the highest prevalence of HTLV-I/II infection, 22.7% (20/88), followed by randomly selected patients from an infectious disease hospital, 19.4% (25 of 129), and tuberculosis patients, 11.1% (10 of 90). Four of 14 patients with myelopathy and three of 16 patients with lymphoid leukemia or lymphoma were seropositive for HTLV-I/II. Sixty-three of 68 HTLV-I/II-positive specimens were then typed: 53 patients were HTLV-I positive, three patients were HTLV-II positive, and in seven patients the assay could not distinguish infection by HTLV-I or II. The finding among HIV-seropositive intravenous drug users in Bahia of coinfection with HTLV-I is contrasted with reports from other areas in which dual infection occurs with HTLV-II. Although high prevalence of HTLV-I infection was found in Bahia, the extent and clinical manifestations of HTLV-I/II infection in Brazil remains imprecisely defined, and further studies are needed.
Moreira
E D
ED
Department of Medicine, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
Ribeiro
T T
TT
Swanson
P
P
Sampaio Filho
C
C
Melo
A
A
Brites
C
C
Badaró
R
R
Toedter
G
G
Lee
H
H
Harrington
W
W
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000150:complications
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies