PMID- 2899060
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19880817
LR  - 20190708
IS  - 0020-7136 (Print)
IS  - 0020-7136 (Linking)
VI  - 42
IP  - 1
DP  - 1988 Jul 15
TI  - Geographic distribution of HTLV-I and identification of a new high-risk 
      population.
PG  - 7-12
AB  - Epidemiologic studies indicate that human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I 
      (HTLV-I), the causative agent of most cases of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma 
      (ATLL) in Southeast Japan and the Caribbean islands and the probable cause of a 
      progressive neurological disorder often referred to as tropical spastic 
      paraparesis, occurs with unusual geographic clustering. The current large-scale 
      serosurvey was undertaken to improve our understanding of HTLV-I prevalence in 
      different parts of the world. We analyzed 43,445 serum samples collected from 
      various geographic locales worldwide; 76% of these sera came from clinically 
      healthy donors. Samples were initially screened by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent 
      assay (ELISA) and 4,353 were further evaluated by means of competition assays. In 
      this study, which did not include sera from endemic areas of Japan, a high 
      prevalence of infection was observed in several countries in the Caribbean basin. 
      A significant age-sex difference was observed between populations in the 
      Caribbean and non-endemic regions of Japan. The reason for the male excess in 
      non-endemic areas of Japan will require further study, while the female excess in 
      the Caribbean basin is compatible with the previously described pattern for other 
      HTLV-I-endemic areas. A newly recognized area of possible endemicity was southern 
      Florida, where evidence of infection with HTLV-I or a related virus was found in 
      a group of native Americans whose sera were collected in 1968. In certain parts 
      of the world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, important problems in determining 
      specificity of reactivity occurred, probably because of cross-reacting 
      antibodies. No pattern was detected that could explain the cross-reactivity 
      solely on the basis of geographic areas, specific patterns of non-viral parasitic 
      infection, or methods of handling the specimens. It is possible that these 
      cross-reactivities are antibodies to proteins from HTLV-I-related retroviruses 
      yet to be discovered.
FAU - Levine, P H
AU  - Levine PH
AD  - Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 
      20892.
FAU - Blattner, W A
AU  - Blattner WA
FAU - Clark, J
AU  - Clark J
FAU - Tarone, R
AU  - Tarone R
FAU - Maloney, E M
AU  - Maloney EM
FAU - Murphy, E M
AU  - Murphy EM
FAU - Gallo, R C
AU  - Gallo RC
FAU - Robert-Guroff, M
AU  - Robert-Guroff M
FAU - Saxinger, W C
AU  - Saxinger WC
LA  - eng
GR  - 1-CP-21007-00/CP/NCI NIH HHS/United States
GR  - 1-CP-61003/CP/NCI NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
PL  - United States
TA  - Int J Cancer
JT  - International journal of cancer
JID - 0042124
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Africa
MH  - Aged
MH  - Cross Reactions
MH  - Deltaretrovirus Infections/*epidemiology
MH  - Epidemiologic Methods
MH  - Female
MH  - Florida
MH  - Global Health
MH  - Humans
MH  - Japan
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Risk Factors
MH  - Sex Factors
MH  - West Indies
EDAT- 1988/07/15 00:00
MHDA- 1988/07/15 00:01
CRDT- 1988/07/15 00:00
PHST- 1988/07/15 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1988/07/15 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1988/07/15 00:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1002/ijc.2910420103 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Int J Cancer. 1988 Jul 15;42(1):7-12. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910420103.