Human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection in neurological patients in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
HTLV-I infection represents a major health concern in endemic areas throughout the world, such as Salvador, the main city of Bahia State, with socio-demographic characteristics similar to sub-Saharan African cities, located in the Northeast of Brazil. In order to provide an estimate of the frequency distribution, and range of neurological manifestations potentially related to HTLV-I infection in this city, we conducted a cross-sectional clinical-epidemiological study to determine the prevalence of this infection in patients with neurological diseases. Patients exhibiting vascular diseases, tumoral diseases or trauma were excluded. Over a period of 16 months, we studied 322 consecutive patients with chronic neurological diseases, who attended the neurological clinics of two major hospitals in Salvador. Overall, the prevalence of HTLV-I infection among the patients was 20.9% (67/320). However, the prevalence among the 104 patients with chronic myelopathy was 50.0% (52/104). It was observed that the major prevalence of HTLV-I was between the ages of 40 and 60 years with a female predominance. Our data indicate that, in Salvador city, HTLV-I is associated with chronic myelopathies or myeloneuropathies, which seem to be the only neurological diseases associated with HTLV-I.
Gomes
I
I
Laboratório Avançado de Saúde Pública, CPqGM, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Melo
A
A
Proietti
F A
FA
Moreno-Carvalho
O
O
Loures
L A
LA
Dazza
M C
MC
Said
G
G
Larouzé
B
B
Galvão-Castro
B
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000276:immunology
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies; D015483:HIV Antibodies