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Mother‐to‐child transmission of human T‐cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV‐1): A fifteen‐year follow‐up study in Okinawa, Japan
Author(s) -
Kusuhara Koichi,
Sonoda Shunro,
Takahashi Kazuo,
Tokugawa Ken,
Fukushige Junichiro,
Ueda Kohji
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910400607
Subject(s) - leukemia , medicine , antibody , indirect immunofluorescence , transmission (telecommunications) , virus , immunofluorescence , lymphoma , virology , viral disease , immunology , pediatrics , electrical engineering , engineering
Okinawa prefecture is one of the endemic areas for adult T‐cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) in Japan. In this study, 2,013 serum specimens drawn serially over a period of 15 years (1968–1983) from 311 mother/child pairs in Okinawa were tested for antibodies to human T‐cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV‐1) by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and by indirect Immunofluorescence. The prevalence rate of HTLV‐1 antibodies was 20.9% (65 cases) in the mothers and 3.2% (10 cases) in the children. Of the 65 seropositive mothers, 10 (15.4%) had seropositive children. This study revealed a significant difference between the prevalence rates of HTLV‐1 antibodies in mothers and children. In addition, children born to seropositive mothers had acquired their HTLV‐1 antibodies by the age of 3 years, and were still seropositive at the age of 18 years. No initially seronegative child was found to have sero‐converted during the period investigated.