Evidence for mother-to-child transmission of human T lymphotropic virus type II.
Serologic analysis of the children of 2 married human T lymphotropic virus type II (HTLV-II)-infected prostitutes demonstrated antibodies to HTLV-II in an 8-year-old boy whose only recognizable risk for HTLV-II infection was breast-feeding during his first 4 years of life. Limited sequence analysis of isolates infecting the mother and child demonstrated 100% identical sequences in the long terminal repeat (LTR65-297; 236 bp), pol4762-4919 (157 bp), and env5523-6003 (480 bp) regions (both isolates were subtype a), suggesting mother-to-child transmission. In contrast, isolates obtained from 2 other prostitutes from the same geographic region had sequences different from those of the first woman and her child, and the second and third women were infected with HTLV-II subtype b. Although vertical transmission of HTLV-II in this 8-year-old child cannot be conclusively ascertained, the probability is overwhelming that infection occurred through breast-feeding for an extended period of time.
Lal
R B
RB
Retrovirus Disease Branch, CDC, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Gongora-Biachi
R A
RA
Pardi
D
D
Switzer
W M
WM
Goldman
I
I
Lal
A F
AF
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015752:Genes, env / Q000235:genetics; D015751:Genes, pol / Q000235:genetics; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies