-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Charles R. Vitek, Fernando I. Gracia, RuthAnn Giusti, Keiji Fukuda, Douglas B. Green, Luis C. Castillo, Bias Armien, Rima F. Khabbaz, Paul H. Levine, Jonathan E. Kaplan, William A. Blattner, Evidence for Sexual and Mother-to-Child Transmission of Human T Lymphotropic Virus Type II among Guaymi Indians, Panama, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 171, Issue 4, April 1995, Pages 1022–1026, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/171.4.1022
- Share Icon Share
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%) ofthe 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-ehild transmission of HTLV-II in this population.