title: Discrepancy between human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I screening test and confirmatory tests in non-endemic areas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to examine the seroprevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV)-I among pregnant women at our institution in Tokyo, Japan, which is a non-endemic area, and to investigate the results of Western blotting among pregnant women who had obtained positive results from a screening test.
  
  
  METHODS
  The seroprevalence of HTLV-I was retrospectively reviewed in 11,352 pregnant women who gave birth at the National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo, Japan, between 2002 and 2009. For the screening test, a chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay was performed followed by a confirmatory Western blot test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall positive rate for the screening test was 0.33% (37/11,352). Western blot testing was performed in 36 of these 37 cases. Only nine patients (25%) were positive for HTLV-I by Western blot testing, seven patients (19%) were indeterminate, and 20 patients (56%) were negative.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study (carried out in a non-endemic area), the percentage of patients with a positive result from the screening test who were confirmed to be true carriers was significantly low, differing from endemic areas.
authors.affiliation: Division of Obstetrics, Department of Maternal, Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan. hanaoka-m@ncchd.go.jp
authors.forename: Masachi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanaoka
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saitoh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008403:Mass Screening; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies