Short-term breast-feeding may reduce the risk of vertical transmission of HTLV-I. The Tsushima ATL Study Group.
To establish a desirable preventive measure against mother-to-child transmission of HTLV-I through breast milk, we conducted a prospective study to investigate the seroconversion rate among children born to HTLV-I carrier mothers on two highly HTLV-I-endemic islands where 8% of pregnant women carry HTLV-I. Between 1985 to 1991, 428 pregnant women were found to be positive against anti-HTLV-I antibody and were advised not to breast-feed their newborn babies. Among them, 212 women (50%) accepted this advice and the other mothers proceeded to breast-feed. Results were obtained from 277 children born to HTLV-I carrier mothers and were followed up until more than 30 months of age. When the seroconversion rate was analyzed by feeding manner, short-term breast-feeders (< or = 6 months) showed a statistically significant lower seroconversion rate than long-term breast-feeders (2/51; 3.9% vs. 13/64; 20.3%, p < 0.05). On the other hand, four out of 162 bottle-fed children (2.5%) became positive. It is hypothesized that maternal HTLV-I antibody may protect babies from HTLV-I infection through breast milk during the first 6 months.
Takezaki
T
T
Division of Epidemiology, Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute, Nagoya, Japan.
Tajima
K
K
Ito
M
M
Ito
S
S
Kinoshita
K
K
Tachibana
K
K
Matsushita
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015458:Leukemia, T-Cell / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies