HTLV-1/2 among high-risk groups in Argentina: Molecular diagnosis and prevalence of different sexual transmitted infections

C.A. BERINI; M.A. PANDO; C.T. BAUTISTA; M.E. EIRIN; H. SALOMÓN; L. MARTÍNEZ PERALTA; M. WEISSENBACHER; M.M. AVILA; M.M. BIGLIONE

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY

Wiley-Liss Inc.

Lugar: Nueva York, EEUU.; Año: 2007 vol. 79 p. 1914 - 1920

0146-6615

The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence and characterize the epidemiologic patterns of HTLV-1/2 infections and co-infections with HIV, HBV (hepatitis B), HCV (hepatitis C), and Treponema Pallidum in five different high-risk groups, including injecting drug users (IDUs), female sex workers (FSWs), men who have sex with men (MSM), patients with tuberculosis (TB), and patients attending clinics for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The HTLV-1/2 prevalence was 19.1% (33/173) for IDUs, 2.0% (10/613) for FSWs, 2.1% (4/187) for TB, 1.0% (4/400) for STIs and 0.4% (3/282) for MSM, respectively. Among all groups, the higher percentages of co-infection were HTLV-1/HBV (63%, 17/27) and HTLV-1/HCV (52%, 14/27). Among IDUs, there was a high percentage of coinfection of HTLV-2 with HCV (96.3%, 26/27), HIV (92.6%, 25/27), and HBV (77.8%, 21/27), respectively. In summary, HTLV-1/2 infections appear to be widely distributed among high-risk groups in a non- endemic area of Argentina being the coinfection with HBV and HCV more frequent among IDUs.