title: Seroprevalence of HTLV infection among immigrant pregnant women in the Mediterranean coast of Spain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Universal HTLV antenatal screening is currently not mandatory in European countries. However, the large number of immigrants coming from HTLV-I endemic areas might force to change this recommendation in the near future.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of HTLV infections in immigrant pregnant women attended in a general Hospital in the Mediterranean coast of Spain.
  
  
  METHODS
  From February 2006 to December 2009, a cross-sectional study was carried out on all immigrant pregnant women attended at a reference obstetric unit in Elche, Spain. An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was used for testing HTLV-I/II antibodies in serum, being reactive samples further confirmed by Western blot.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1439 immigrant pregnant women were examined. Overall, 520 (36.1%) came from Central and South America and 90 (6.2%) from Sub-Saharan Africa, where HTLV infection is endemic. Three samples were EIA-seroreactive for HTLV-1/2. One of them was a woman infected with HTLV-I coming from Brazil and the other two were women infected with HTLV-II coming from Bolivia and Colombia, respectively. Thus, the overall HTLV seroprevalence in the study population was 2.1 per 1000 (95% CI: 0.5-6.6/1000), although it reached to 0.58% in the subset of women from Central and South America.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HTLV antenatal screening should be considered in pregnant women coming from Central and South America, in whom the prevalence of infection is relatively high and avoidance of breastfeeding may effectively prevent vertical HTLV transmission.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital General Universitario de Elche, Alicante, Spain. jramosrincon@yahoo.es
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Milla
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Treviño
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robledano
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Soriano
authors.forename: Félix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral