Respiratory and urinary tract infections, arthritis, and asthma associated with HTLV-I and HTLV-II infection

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 109 - 116
• Main Authors: Murphy, Edward L, Wang, Baoguang, Sacher, Ronald A, Fridey, Joy, Smith, James W, Nass, Catharie C, Newman, Bruce, Ownby, Helen E, Garratty, George, Hutching, Shelia T, Schreiber, George B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01.01.2004; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Adult; Arthritis - complications; Arthritis - epidemiology; Asthma - complications; Asthma - epidemiology; Blood Donors; Female; HIV Seronegativity; HTLV infections; HTLV-I Infections - blood; HTLV-I Infections - complications; HTLV-I Infections - mortality; HTLV-II Infections - blood; HTLV-II Infections - complications; HTLV-II Infections - mortality; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1; Human T-lymphotropic virus 2; Humans; Incidence; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Respiratory Tract Infections - complications; Respiratory Tract Infections - epidemiology; Survival Analysis; United States; United States - epidemiology; Urinary Tract Infections - complications; Urinary Tract Infections - epidemiology; United States
• DOI: 10.3201/eid1001.020714
• ISSN: 1080-6040

Human T-lymphotropic virus types I and II (HTLV-I and -II) cause myelopathy; HTLV-I, but not HTLV-II, causes adult T-cell leukemia. Whether HTLV-II is associated with other diseases is unknown. Using survival analysis, we studied medical history data from a prospective cohort of HTLV-I- and HTLV-II-infected and -uninfected blood donors, all HIV seronegative. A total of 152 HTLV-I, 387 HTLV-II, and 799 uninfected donors were enrolled and followed for a median of 4.4, 4.3, and 4.4 years, respectively. HTLV-II participants had significantly increased incidences of acute bronchitis (incidence ratio [IR] = 1.68), bladder or kidney infection (IR = 1.55), arthritis (IR = 2.66), and asthma (IR = 3.28), and a borderline increase in pneumonia (IR = 1.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.98 to 3.38). HTLV-I participants had significantly increased incidences of bladder or kidney infection (IR = 1.82), and arthritis (IR = 2.84). We conclude that HTLV-II infection may inhibit immunologic responses to respiratory infections and that both HTLV-I and -II may induce inflammatory or autoimmune reactions.