title: Prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 infection among blood donors in mainland China: a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is considered to be the etiological agent of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) and HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). Blood transfusion is a common transmission pathway for HTLV-1. However, no surveys to determine the overall prevalence of HTLV-1 infection and HTLV-1 genotypes among blood donors on the Chinese mainland have yet been conducted.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review and meta-analysis of the peer-reviewed literature on this topic was carried out. Data manipulation and statistical analyses were performed using the Comprehensive Meta Analysis Version 2.0 program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-four eligible articles involving 458525 blood donors were selected. Analysis revealed the pooled prevalences of HTLV-1 infection among blood donors in Fujian and Guangdong provinces to be 9.9/10000 (95% confidence interval (CI) 4.4/10000-22.2/10000) and 2.9/10000 (95% CI 1.7/10000-4.8/10000), respectively; there were only two cases of HTLV-1 infection among 204763 donors in other areas of the Chinese mainland. In addition, 40 of 42 (95.2%) HTLV-1 isolates belonged to the Transcontinental subgroup A of the HTLV-1 subtype A (Cosmopolitan subtype).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of HTLV-1 infection among blood donors is low and restricted mainly to the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. Most isolates belong to the Transcontinental subgroup within HTLV-1 subtype A.
authors.affiliation: Fujian Institute of Hematology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory on Hematology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Fujian Institute of Hematology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory on Hematology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, P. R. China. Electronic address: chenyz@mail.fjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yuanzhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Fujian Institute of Hematology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory on Hematology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhengjun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Fujian Institute of Hematology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory on Hematology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D002681:China; D005838:Genotype; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence
keywords: Blood donors; Chinese mainland; Genotypes; HTLV-1; Meta-analysis; Prevalence