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Phylogenetic and molecular analysis of HTLV‐1 isolates from a medium sized town in Northern of Brazil: Tracing a common origin of the virus from the most endemic city in the country
Author(s) -
Magalhães Themístocles,
MotaMiranda Aline Cristina,
Alcantara Luiz Carlos Junior,
Olavarria Viviana,
GalvãoCastro Bernardo,
RiosGrassi Maria Fernanda
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.21278
Subject(s) - seroprevalence , population , virology , latin americans , phylogenetic tree , geography , virus , demography , serology , biology , veterinary medicine , medicine , immunology , antibody , gene , linguistics , philosophy , sociology , biochemistry
Salvador‐Bahia has the highest prevalence of HTLV‐1 infection in Brazil; about 2% of the population is infected. In this city, the prevalence of HTLV in pregnant women is 1%. There is no data of the HTLV‐1 prevalence in others cities of the Bahia's Recôncavo, where the population has similar social and demography characteristics to those from Salvador. Our aim was to evaluate the seroprevalence of HTLV in pregnant women in Cruz das Almas‐Bahia, a medium‐sized city from the Bahia's Recôncavo. All individuals were tested for HTLV (ELISA) and the positive samples were confirmed by Western Blot. Phylogenetic analyses of the total LTR region were performed in all positive samples. We tested 408 samples (45.4% of the estimate pregnant women population) between June 1st and October 31, 2005. The prevalence of HTLV‐1 infection was 0.98%. In addition, all isolated virus were grouped in the subtype HTLV‐1a, in the Latin American group. Our results suggest that the introduction of HTLV‐1 occurred after the slave trade into Salvador. In addition, HTLV‐1‐infection should be screened during the pregnancy in women originating from HTLV‐1 endemic areas. J. Med. Virol. 80:2040–2045, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.