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Discrepancy between human T‐cell lymphotropic virus type I screening test and confirmatory tests in non‐endemic areas
Author(s) -
Hanaoka Masachi,
Kubo Takahiko,
Saitoh Akihiko
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 1341-8076
DOI - 10.1111/j.1447-0756.2011.01786.x
Subject(s) - seroprevalence , medicine , human t lymphotropic virus , western blot , immunoassay , virology , immunology , serology , antibody , biology , biochemistry , myelopathy , psychiatry , spinal cord , gene
Abstract Aim: The purpose of this study was to examine the seroprevalence of human T‐lymphotropic virus (HTLV)‐I among pregnant women at our institution in Tokyo, Japan, which is a non‐endemic area, and to investigate the results of Western blotting among pregnant women who had obtained positive results from a screening test. Material and Methods: The seroprevalence of HTLV‐I was retrospectively reviewed in 11 352 pregnant women who gave birth at the National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo, Japan, between 2002 and 2009. For the screening test, a chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay was performed followed by a confirmatory Western blot test. Results: The overall positive rate for the screening test was 0.33% (37/11 352). Western blot testing was performed in 36 of these 37 cases. Only nine patients (25%) were positive for HTLV‐I by Western blot testing, seven patients (19%) were indeterminate, and 20 patients (56%) were negative. Conclusions: In this study (carried out in a non‐endemic area), the percentage of patients with a positive result from the screening test who were confirmed to be true carriers was significantly low, differing from endemic areas.