HTLV-II in blood donors at the Blood Center Net of Ceará - HEMOCE.

Objective: To identify HTLV-II revalence in blood donors at the Blood Center Net of Ceará (Hemorrede do Ceará - HEMOCE) and epidemiological aspects of positive cases.
Methods: Cases considered positive were surveyed from data bases through the immunoenzymatic method ELISA and confirmed by Western Blot from 2001 to 2008. In this period, 679,610 blood samples from voluntary donors were tested.
Results: From all donors, 164 samples were actually positive in both tests; of these, 33 (20.1%) were typed as HTLV-II, showing a prevalence of 0.006%. In positive cases, a mean age 28.2 years, and a predominantly male gender (54.5%) were observed, the race was mixed in 78.8%, most donors had Fortaleza as hometown (72.7%), with 51.5% being married/consensual union, and 33.3% reported to have completed high school education.
Conclusion: Although HTLV-II infection is low, its presence is universal, being similar in males and females mostly in urban centers. The need of preventive measures as a way of avoiding infection spread is stressed.