Spatial distribution of the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus types I and II (HTLV-I/II) infection among blood donors of Hemominas Foundation, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, 1994-1996

Abstract

We conducted a cross-sectional study of the spatial distribution of HTLV-I/II infection among blood donors of Hemominas Foundation, living in Belo Horizonte, from 1994 to 1996. Study population (1,022) was composed by 533 cases (positive Western Blot (WB), indeterminate WB and ELISA positive without WB result) and a random sample of 489 non-cases (HTLV-I/II serum negative). Cases and non-cases were georeferenced using the exact or an approximation of the household address reported at the blood donation interview. Using multivariate analysis, cases with WB result are less likely to be reposition blood donors compared to voluntary ones (OR = 0.70; CI 95%: 0.50-0.99). Using the difference between univariate K functions, we found no evidence that cases and non-cases differ in their spatial distribution. We found no evidence that cases with and without WB result differ in the distance between their residence and Hemominas Foundation. No donors without WB result were georeferenced by the exact address. These donors could not have received the Hemominas letter inviting them to return to collect the second blood sample.

Seroprevalence of HTLV-1/2 among blood donors in the state of Maranhão, Brazil

“…This was also observed in other studies,6., 13., 15. with prevalences among males of 54.95%, 59.4%, and 57.8%. However, this is usually explained by the higher numbers of male donors than female donors.…”

Comment: seroprevalence of HTLV-1/2 among blood donors in the state of Maranhão Brazil✰✰See paper by Viana GM et al. on pages 50-3

“…Regarding the transmission pattern, breastfeeding has been considered the main route of viral transmission, followed by sexual contact and use of contaminated supplies by addicts. However, the study by Viana et al 3 in this issue confirmed previous findings from Mota et al 5 and Monteiro de Castro et al, 6 who demonstrated that seroprevalence increases with age. These data support the hypothesis that, rather than breastfeeding, other forms of transmission are currently more important in the acquisition of HTLV-1 infection.…”

Molecular evidence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus types 1 and 2 (HTLV-1 and HTLV-2) infections in HTLV seroindeterminate individuals from São Paulo, Brazil

“…Fifteen to 20 million people are estimated to be infected by HTLV-1 in the world, and, out of these, 1-5% will eventually develop related diseases. 4 In Brazil, seroprevalence among blood donors ranges from 0.08% to 1.8%. [5][6][7] Higher infection rates are found in the Northern and Northeastern regions, as well as among certain population groups: IDU, 8,9 HIV-infected patients, [10][11][12] commercial sex workers 13 and Amerindians from the Amazon.…”