Journal of Medical Virology
Volume 74, Issue 2, 2004, Pages 207-215

High prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) in immigrant male-to-female transsexual sex workers with HIV-1 infection (Article)

Zehender G.* , Colasante C. , De Maddalena C. , Bernini F. , Savasi V. , Persico T. , Merli S. , Ridolfo A. , Santambrogio S. , Moroni M. , Galli M.
  • a Ist. di Malat. Infettive e Tropicali, Università di Milano, Ctro. Interdisc. Studi Biomol./A. I., Milan, Italy, Ist. di Malat. Infettive e Tropicali, Università di Milano, c/o Ospedale L. Sacco, Via G.B. Grassi 74, 20157 Milano, Italy
  • b Ist. di Malat. Infettive e Tropicali, Università di Milano, Ctro. Interdisc. Studi Biomol./A. I., Milan, Italy
  • c Ist. di Malat. Infettive e Tropicali, Università di Milano, Ctro. Interdisc. Studi Biomol./A. I., Milan, Italy
  • d Ist. di Malat. Infettive e Tropicali, Università di Milano, Ctro. Interdisc. Studi Biomol./A. I., Milan, Italy
  • e Dipto. di Scienze Cliniche L. Sacco, Clin. Ostet./Ginecol.-Univ. Milano, Milan, Italy
  • f Dipto. di Scienze Cliniche L. Sacco, Clin. Ostet./Ginecol.-Univ. Milano, Milan, Italy
  • g Seconda Div. di Malattie Infettive, Ospedale Luigi Sacco, Milan, Italy
  • h Ist. di Malat. Infettive e Tropicali, Università di Milano, Ctro. Interdisc. Studi Biomol./A. I., Milan, Italy
  • i Ist. di Malat. Infettive e Tropicali, Università di Milano, Ctro. Interdisc. Studi Biomol./A. I., Milan, Italy
  • j Ist. di Malat. Infettive e Tropicali, Università di Milano, Ctro. Interdisc. Studi Biomol./A. I., Milan, Italy
  • k Ist. di Malat. Infettive e Tropicali, Università di Milano, Ctro. Interdisc. Studi Biomol./A. I., Milan, Italy

Abstract

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 and 2 (HTLV-1 and HTLV-2) infections in Europe are limited to intravenous drug users and migrants coming from areas in which they are endemic. A survey was undertaken of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 infections in 393 recent immigrants: 167 HIV-1 positive subjects (including 52 male-to-female transsexual sex workers) and 226 pregnant HIV-1 negative women. The prevalence of HTLV-1 was 3.6% in the HIV-1 positive group and 0.9% in the HIV-1 negative group. The highest HTLV-1 prevalence in both groups was found in persons from Latin America, particularly those born in Peru (up to 26% in the HIV-1 positive group). All of the HIV-1/ HTLV-1 co-infected individuals were male-to-female transsexual sex workers in whom the overall prevalence of HTLV-1 infection was 11.5%. HTLV-2 was only found in the HIV-1 positive group (prevalence 1.2%); all of the infected subjects were transsexual sex workers from Brazil (overall prevalence 6.4%). Phylogenetic analysis showed that all of the HTLV-1 isolates were of the cosmopolitan type, clustering with other strains circulating in the patients' birth-places; the HTLV-2 isolates were of subtype 2a, and clustered significantly with other Brazilian strains. These results suggest the independent origin of each infection in the patient's birthplace. The data raise concerns about the further spread of HTLV infections mainly through the sexual route. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Author Keywords

Migrants Phylogenetic analysis HTLV-2 Sexual transmission MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY

Index Keywords

human t cell leukemia virus 1 immigrant maximum likelihood method South and Central America HIV Infections virus infection Sequence Analysis, DNA Human immunodeficiency virus infection Molecular Sequence Data virus strain unindexed sequence human controlled study human t cell leukemia virus 2 transsexualism sexual transmission virus isolation nucleotide sequence epidemiological data cluster analysis migrant worker virus typing Humans Hispanic male female enzyme linked immunosorbent assay pregnancy prostitution polymerase chain reaction prevalence Article major clinical study Phylogeny sequence analysis adult endemic disease strain difference Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Emigration and Immigration Brazil Peru intravenous drug abuse Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 Epidemiology, Molecular HTLV-I Infections
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-4344613915&doi=10.1002%2fjmv.20165&partnerID=40&md5=c71ab6b9f76de0244b431f1567a9486b
DOI: 10.1002/jmv.20165
ISSN: 01466615
Cited by: 18
Original Language: English