Descriptive study of HTLV infection in a population of pregnant women from the state of Pará, Northern Brazil

Sequeira, Carina Guilhon; Tamegão-Lopes, Bruna Pedroso; Santos, Eduardo José Melo dos; Ventura, Ana Maria Revorêdo da Silva; Moraes-Pinto, Maria Isabel de; Succi, Regina Célia de Menezes

doi:10.1590/s0037-86822012005000007

Cited by 33 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In the comparison between HTLV-1/2 positive and negative groups none of the variables was statistically significant, which was in line with the two latest studies from Bahia [20], [21]. Although there were some reports of an inverse association between both length of formal education and family income with HTLV-1/2 infection [7], [18], [19], [23]–[26] these were not universal findings [15], [21], [27]–[30] and were not confirmed in our population.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…The similarity of the epidemiological profile in both of our groups and the lack of clear risk factors seem to point to routine HTLV-1/2 prenatal screening as the most sensible path to follow, as supported by other colleagues [8], [16], [18], [20], [21], [25], [28], [30], [31]. Once carrier mothers were identified, avoidance of breastfeeding would be a fundamental tool for the control of mother-to-child transmission.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

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Prevalence of HTLV-1/2 in Pregnant Women Living in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro

et al. 2014

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BackgroundHTLV-1/2 infection can cause severe and disabling diseases in children and adults. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of HTLV-1/2 infection in pregnant women living in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro.Methodology/Principal Findings1,204 pregnant women were tested upon hospital admission for delivery in two public hospitals in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Mesquita, between November, 2012 and April, 2013. The samples were screened by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) and reactive ones were confirmed by Western blot (WB). Epi-info software was used for building the database and performing the statistical analysis. Eight patients had confirmed HTLV-1/2 infection (7 HTLV-1, one HTLV-2), equivalent to a prevalence rate of 0.66%. Two further reactive screening tests had negative Western blot results and therefore were considered negative in the statistical analysis. All HTLV-1/2-positive patients were born in Rio de Janeiro, most were non-Caucasian (87.5%), in a stable relationship (62.5%), had at least ten years of formal education (62.5%) and a monthly family income of up to US$600.00 (87.5%). There was only one case of coinfection with syphilis and none with HIV. The mean age of the infected women was 28.4 (SD = 6.3) years and of the seronegative ones was 24.8 (SD = 6.5) (p = 0.10). The median number of pregnancies were 3.0 and 1.0 (p = 0.06) and the median number of sexual partners were 3.5 and 3.0 (p = 0.33) in the seropositive and negative groups, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups.Conclusions/SignificanceA significant prevalence of HTLV-1/2 was found in our population. The socio-epidemiological profile of carrier mothers was similar to the controls. Such findings expose the need for a public health policy of routine HTLV-1/2 screening in antenatal care, since counselling and preventive measures are the only strategies currently available to interrupt the chain of transmission and the future development of HTLV-1/2-related diseases.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Prevalence of HTLV-1/2 in Pregnant Women Living in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro

et al. 2014

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“… Most of the reports were performed in Brazil, Peru and Jamaica; all of them are considered endemic regions , , . …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human T‐Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 and associated diseases in Latin America

Eusebio‐Ponce

Candel

Anguita

2019

Tropical Med Int Health

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This narrative review, which is based on a systematic literature search following the PRISMA guidelines, provides a general overview of Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and associated diseases: Adult T-cell Leukaemia-Lymphoma (ATLL) and HTLV-1-Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP) in Latin America, focusing on epidemiology and prevention. Using the published information on HTLV-1, ATLL and HAM/TSP prevalence, we present comprehensive and accurate maps and tables, and developed an algorithm to assist in the prevention of HTLV-1 transmission through breastfeeding while considering socio-economic status. Latin America is an interesting scenario to study HTLV-1 because of the diverse origin of its population. Apart from the expected high prevalence in inhabitants of African ancestry, the presence of endemic foci affecting indigenous populations is particularly striking. ATLL prevention is the biggest challenge in this field. Most ATLL cases are transmitted through breastfeeding; thus, prevention methods to avoid ATLL in endemic countries have to be focused on this. In view of the high inequality in most Latin American countries, reduction in breastfeeding duration, freezing/ thawing and pasteurisation of breastmilk can be suitable interventions in poor settings, considering that avoiding the risk of malnutrition and infant mortality must be the priority.

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“…Human infections by HTLV in the Amazon region of Brazil have been recorded by several studies involving blood donors [82,[98][99][100][101][102], pregnant women [103][104][105][106], urban familial aggregates [42] and native Indians [6,56] (Fig. 1).…”

Section: Epidemiological Data Of Htlv-1 and Htlv-2 In The Amazon Regimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prevalence studies also provide interesting information, such as the description of HTLV-2b among blood donors in Belém, which stresses the need for ongoing molecular epidemiology investigations [116]. A comprehensive investigation detected HTLV-1 among 0.3% (n = 39) of 13,382 pregnant women in Belém and one person infected with HTLV-2 [103]. Later, another prevalence rate of 0.61% was detected in pregnant women in Belém [106].…”

Section: Epidemiological Data Of Htlv-1 and Htlv-2 In The Amazon Regimentioning

confidence: 99%

The challenge of describing the epidemiology of HTLV in the Amazon region of Brazil

Ishak

Vallinoto

2020

Retrovirology

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HTLV-1 was the first described human retrovirus and was soon found to be associated with severe clinical diseases, including a devastating lymphoma/leukemia and other inflammatory diseases. Although HTLV-2 is not usually pathogenic, it is widely distributed among native Indian populations in Brazil, particularly in the Amazon region of the country. Presently, HTLV spreads mainly by the sexual route and from mother to child, and virus persistence is an active biological factor aiding its transmission. Recently, the use of illicit drugs has been shown to be an additional risk factor, showing the influence of new habits on the epidemiology of HTLV in the region. Despite the detection of the virus in several different populations in the Amazon region of Brazil for almost 30 years, the exact prevalence of HTLV-1/2 is not well defined. The original biases in sampling and the selection of epidemiologically unsuitable populations were commonly repeated in most prevalence studies, generating unreliable and conflicting figures that do not represent the actual prevalence of HTLV. The improvements in clinical and laboratory facilities have resulted in the description of several clinical manifestations that were previously unknown in the region. The extent of the spread of the virus must be defined in this region, which is the largest geographical area of the country. As prophylaxis advances toward the use of vaccines against HTLV-1, it is important to determine who is at risk of being infected and developing a disease to successfully implement preventive measures, particularly as proposals are made to eradicate the virus among humans.

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Descriptive study of HTLV infection in a population of pregnant women from the state of Pará, Northern Brazil

Cited by 33 publications

References 26 publications

Prevalence of HTLV-1/2 in Pregnant Women Living in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro

Prevalence of HTLV-1/2 in Pregnant Women Living in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro

Human T‐Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 and associated diseases in Latin America

The challenge of describing the epidemiology of HTLV in the Amazon region of Brazil

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