Increased Incidence of Infectious Diseases During Prospective Follow-up of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type II– and I–Infected Blood Donors

Abstract

These data support an increased incidence of infectious diseases among otherwise healthy HTLV-II- and HTLV-I-infected subjects. They are also consistent with the lymphoproliferative effects of HTLV-I, and with neuropathic effects of HTLV-I and HTLV-II.

Recruiting individuals into the HTLV cohort study in the United Kingdom: clinical findings and challenges in the first six years, 2003 to 2009

“…European blood donors found to be infected with HTLV had generally, where typable, HTLV-1 [15].This is in contrast to a blood donor study in the United States, where 72% had HTLV-2 [16] and 24% reported IDU risk exposure; no participants in our cohort reported to being IDU. Other studies have shown an association between HTLV-2 and IDU [16,17]; it is possible that more detailed questioning of HTLV-2-infected participants might reveal previously undisclosed risks of IDU.…”

Hematologic hints of HTLV-2 in US blood donors

“…First, the prevalence of severe bleeding (including CNS) is similar to another large study (3%). 2 Second, treatment did not statistically impact the development of severe bleeding by 4 weeks, even if the bleeding at diagnosis was moderate. Finally, similar to the findings from a prior study, 3 treatment of major hemorrhage at diagnosis may not alter bleeding symptoms over the next several days.…”

“…The survey has provided extremely valuable information regarding the long-term consequences of asymptomatic infection with HTLV-I or HTLV-II. 1,2 In this issue of Blood, Bartman and colleagues demonstrate an association with abnormalities in hematologic parameters among HTLV-I and HTLV-II-infected blood donors through time, including elevations in hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, platelet counts, and absolute lymphocyte counts.…”

“…Limited information exists regarding the long-term biologic and clinical outcomes of HTLV-II infection. Previous reports from the HTLV Outcomes Study (HOST) have linked HTLV-II infection with increased morbidity/mortality, an increased risk for pneumonia and bronchitis, urinary tract infections, and rare neurologic 2 Recently, HTLV-II coinfection was associated with an observable survival benefit and delay in progression to AIDS among HIV-1-infected IDUs. 3 While HTLV-I has been definitively proven to cause adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma and a progressive neurodegenerative illness known as tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (TSP/ HAM), a causal role for HTLV-II with either leukemia or TSP/HAM is much less well-defined and based on a handful of case reports.…”

Human T-Lymphotropic Viruses (HTLV)

“…HTLV-2 is also present among intravenous drug users (IDU), mainly in the United States and in Europe (De La Fuente et al, 2006;Murphy et al, 1999). HTLV-2 shares similar epidemiological determinants with HTLV-1: presence of populational clusters with high prevalence, higher prevalence in women, increase prevalence rate with age, and the same pathways of transmission.…”