1. Evidence for sexual and mother-to-child transmission of human T lymphotropic virus type II among Guaymi Indians, Panama.
- Author
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Vitek CR, Gracia FI, Giusti R, Fukuda K, Green DB, Castillo LC, Armien B, Khabbaz RF, Levine PH, and Kaplan JE
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, HTLV-II Antibodies blood, HTLV-II Infections epidemiology, HTLV-II Infections immunology, Humans, Infant, Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical, Male, Middle Aged, Panama epidemiology, Prevalence, Risk Factors, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral epidemiology, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral immunology, HTLV-II Infections transmission, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral transmission
- Abstract
Guaymi Indians, a non-intravenous drug-using population in which human T cell lymphotropic virus type II (HTLV-II) is endemic, were studied in Changuinola, Panama, to identify the prevalence and modes of transmission of HTLV-II. A population-based survey showed that 352 (9.5%) of the 3686 participants were seropositive for HTLV-II. Infection rates were the same for male and female subjects and increased significantly with age, beginning in young adulthood. HTLV-II infection status was highly concordant among spouses (P < .001) and between mother and child; of children aged 1-10 years, 36 of 219 born to seropositive mothers were seropositive compared with 3 of 997 born to seronegative mothers (P < .001). The strong associations of HTLV-II infection with age and with an infected spouse in adults and of infection in children with infection in their mothers strongly suggest sexual and mother-to-child transmission of HTLV-II in this population.
- Published
- 1995
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