Prevalence of HTLV-I/II antibodies in HIV seropositive and HIV seronegative STD patients in Vellore region in southern India

Prevalence of Human T Cell Leukaemia Virus amongst Blood Donors

BACKGROUND

Human T cell leukaemia virus (HTLV) I/II are retroviruses implicated in transfusion transmitted infection. Present study was undertaken to assess seroprevalence of HTLV in voluntary blood donors along with pattern of blood utilisation.

METHODS

A total of 258 healthy blood donors who were free from infectious markers in transfusion as per current transfusion guidelines were enrolled. They were screened for HTLV-I/II antibodies by commercially available enzyme immuno assay (EIA) and their blood utilisation data was analysed.

RESULT

Five (1.9%) donors were found seropositive for HTLV-I/II of which 1.2 % were first time and 0.9% were repeat donors. Blood utilisation data revealed 20.9% and 38.8% units were utilised within 5 and 6-14 days of collection respectively. 45.9% recipients were transfused with single blood unit. 42.9% recipients were immunosuppressed due to underlying disease.

CONCLUSION

The high prevalence of HTLV in blood donors, coupled with single unit transfusion, use of fresh blood, non availability of acellular blood products and immunosuppression in recipients can lead to significant transfusion transmitted HTLV infection. We suggest judicious use of blood products and screening of blood donors in prevention of transfusion transmitted HTLV-I/II.

HTLV-1/2 among high-risk groups in Argentina: molecular diagnosis and prevalence of different sexual transmitted infections

The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence and characterize the epidemiologic patterns of HTLV-1/2 infections and co-infections with HIV, HBV (hepatitis B), HCV (hepatitis C), and Treponema Pallidum in five different high-risk groups, including injecting drug users (IDUs), female sex workers (FSWs), men who have sex with men (MSM), patients with tuberculosis (TB), and patients attending clinics for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The HTLV-1/2 prevalence was 19.1% (33/173) for IDUs, 2.0% (10/613) for FSWs, 2.1% (4/187) for TB, 1.0% (4/400) for STIs and 0.4% (3/282) for MSM, respectively. Among all groups, the higher percentages of co-infection were HTLV-1/HBV (63%, 17/27) and HTLV-1/HCV (52%, 14/27). Among IDUs, there was a high percentage of co-infection of HTLV-2 with HCV (96.3%, 26/27), HIV (92.6%, 25/27), and HBV (77.8%, 21/27), respectively. In summary, HTLV-1/2 infections appear to be widely distributed among high-risk groups in a nonendemic area of Argentina being the co-infection with HBV and HCV more frequent among IDUs.

Phylogenetic heterogeneity of new HTLV type 1 isolates from southern India in subgroup A

Seven isolates of human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) were taken in southern India and phylogenetically analyzed to gain new insights into the origin and dissemination of HTLV-1 in the subcontinent. The new Indian HTLV-1s were found to be members of subgroup A (Transcontinental subgroup) of the Cosmopolitan group. They formed three different clusters (South African/Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and East Asian clusters). These results demonstrate that Indian HTLV-1s are genetically heterogeneous and include the most divergent strain of subgroup A. On the basis of these results, we speculate that subgroup A HTLV- 1s may have been present for thousands of years in India.

Human T lymphotrophic virus-I (HTLV-I) infection in patients with unclassifiable dermatitis in central Kerala, south India: a preliminary study

OBJECTIVE

We have conducted a preliminary serostudy to confirm the presence of this virus in cases of dermatitis of unknown aetiology and among individuals with sexually transmitted infections (STI) in central Kerala.

METHODS

45 consecutive patients who attended the dermatology clinic of Medical College Kottayam with extensive dermatitis that could not be clinically classified into any known clinical entity and 37 consecutive patients who presented to the sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic were enrolled for the study. Serum/plasma samples were screened for anti-HTLV-I antibody. Reactive and indeterminate samples were confirmed by an immunoblot.

RESULTS

Among 37 STD clinic attendants, none had antibody to HTLV-I while two individuals (4.44%) among the 45 with dermatitis had antibody to HTLV-I.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study proves the presence of HTLV-I in a subset of individuals with poorly defined dermatitis in Kerala. Further larger studies are necessary to assess the extent of this problem and its relation to STI in Kerala.