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Prevalence of antibodies to human T‐lymphotropic virus types I and II in volunteer blood donors and high‐risk groups in northwestern Greece
Author(s) -
Dalekos George N.,
Zervou Eleftheria K.,
Karabini Fotini K.,
Elisaf Moses S.,
Bourantas Kostantinos L.,
Siamopoulos KC
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
transfusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.045
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1537-2995
pISSN - 0041-1132
DOI - 10.1046/j.1537-2995.1995.35695288770.x
Subject(s) - volunteer , serology , medicine , hemodialysis , antibody , immunology , population , human t lymphotropic virus , blood transfusion , virus , virology , biology , environmental health , psychiatry , myelopathy , spinal cord , agronomy
BACKGROUND: In addition to human immunodeficiency virus, human T‐ lymphotropic virus types I and II (HTLV‐I/II) is prevalent among blood donors in the United States. In Greece, there are no epidemiologic data regarding the prevalence of HTLV‐I/II among volunteer blood donors and high‐risk groups. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: To determine the prevalence of HTLV‐I/II infections in northwestern Greece, a seroepidemiologic study was conducted among volunteer blood donors, multiply transfused patients, heroin addicts, and chronic hemodialysis patients. The subjects were tested for serologic evidence of HTLV‐I/II infection by enzyme immunoassays and specific protein immunoblot confirmatory test. RESULTS: None of the volunteer blood donors and heroin addicts had detectable antibodies to HTLV‐I/II. Only 1 (1.45%) of the 69 multiply transfused patients had indeterminate results, while 2 (1.2%) of 163 hemodialysis patients were positive. CONCLUSION: In northwestern Greece, routine screening for HTLV‐I and HTLV‐II infections does not appear to be required. However, the finding of seropositivity among hemodialysis patients requires further evaluation of the origin of the infection, as its zero prevalence in this population seems to exclude transfusion transmission.