title: Epidemiology, treatment, and prevention of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-associated diseases.
abstract: Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), the first human retrovirus to be discovered, is present in diverse regions of the world, where its infection is usually neglected in health care settings and by public health authorities. Since it is usually asymptomatic in the beginning of the infection and disease typically manifests later in life, silent transmission occurs, which is associated with sexual relations, breastfeeding, and blood transfusions. There are no prospects of vaccines, and screening of blood banks and in prenatal care settings is not universal. Therefore, its transmission is active in many areas such as parts of Africa, South and Central America, the Caribbean region, Asia, and Melanesia. It causes serious diseases in humans, including adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) and an incapacitating neurological disease (HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis [HAM/TSP]) besides other afflictions such as uveitis, rheumatic syndromes, and predisposition to helminthic and bacterial infections, among others. These diseases are not curable as yet, and current treatments as well as new perspectives are discussed in the present review.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Denise Utsch
authors.initials: DU
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Fernando Augusto
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Proietti
authors.forename: João Gabriel Ramos
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Ribas
authors.forename: Marcelo Grossi
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.forename: Sônia Regina
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: Antônio Carlos
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Guedes
authors.forename: Anna Bárbara F
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Carneiro-Proietti
mesh_terms: D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods