Trends in the prevalence and distribution of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 infections in Spain

• Published in: Virology journal Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 71
• Main Authors: Treviño, Ana, Aguilera, Antonio, Caballero, Estrella, Benito, Rafael, Parra, Patricia, Eiros, Jose M, Hernandez, Araceli, Calderón, Enrique, Rodríguez, Manuel, Torres, Alvaro, García, Juan, Ramos, Jose Manuel, Roc, Lourdes, Marcaida, Goitzane, Rodríguez, Carmen, Trigo, Matilde, Gomez, Cesar, de Lejarazu, Raul Ortíz, de Mendoza, Carmen, Soriano, Vincent
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 23.03.2012; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Distribution; Epidemiology; Female; HTLV; HTLV infections; HTLV-3; HTLV-4; HTLV-I Antibodies - blood; HTLV-I Antibodies - immunology; HTLV-I Infections - epidemiology; HTLV-I Infections - immunology; HTLV-II Antibodies - blood; HTLV-II Antibodies - immunology; HTLV-II Infections - epidemiology; HTLV-II Infections - immunology; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 - immunology; Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 - immunology; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prevalence; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Seroprevalence; Spain; Spain - epidemiology; Statistics; Spain
• ISSN: 1743-422X; 1743-422X
• DOI: 10.1186/1743-422X-9-71

Although most HTLV infections in Spain have been found in native intravenous drug users carrying HTLV-2, the large immigration flows from Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years may have changed the prevalence and distribution of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 infections, and hypothetically open the opportunity for introducing HTLV-3 or HTLV-4 in Spain. To assess the current seroprevalence of HTLV infection in Spain a national multicenter, cross-sectional, study was conducted in June 2009. A total of 6,460 consecutive outpatients attending 16 hospitals were examined. Overall, 12% were immigrants, and their main origin was Latin America (4.9%), Africa (3.6%) and other European countries (2.8%). Nine individuals were seroreactive for HTLV antibodies (overall prevalence, 0.14%). Evidence of HTLV-1 infection was confirmed by Western blot in 4 subjects (prevalence 0.06%) while HTLV-2 infection was found in 5 (prevalence 0.08%). Infection with HTLV types 1, 2, 3 and 4 was discarded by Western blot and specific PCR assays in another two specimens initially reactive in the enzyme immunoassay. All but one HTLV-1 cases were Latin-Americans while all persons with HTLV-2 infection were native Spaniards. The overall prevalence of HTLV infections in Spain remains low, with no evidence of HTLV-3 or HTLV-4 infections so far.