HTLV 1/2 Prevalence and risk factors in individuals with HIV/AIDS in Pernambuco, Brazil

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Apart from masking the diagnosis of AIDS in patients with HIV/AIDS, human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV), when present, also increases the risk of myelopathies and neurological disease in these patients. METHODS: Disease prevalence was estimated by ELISA and confirmed by Western blot. RESULTS: The coinfection rate was 1.5% (11/720); 10 of 11 patients had HTLV-1, and the remaining one had HTLV-2. The majority were male, over 40 years old, and of pardo color (ethnicity). CONCLUSIONS: There was no association between the risk factors examined and HTLV/HIV coinfection. This is the first study to report the occurrence of HTLV-2 in Pernambuco.

**摘要 引言**：人类T细胞白血病病毒（human T-cell lymphotropic virus, HTLV）除了会导致HIV/AIDS患者的艾滋病诊断被掩盖之外，此类患者若合并感染HTLV，还会面临更高的脊髓病及神经系统疾病患病风险。**研究方法**：通过酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）估算疾病患病率，并经蛋白质印迹法（Western blot）验证检测结果。**研究结果**：HTLV与HIV的合并感染率为1.5%（11/720）；11例合并感染患者中，10例为HTLV-1感染，剩余1例为HTLV-2感染。该11例患者中大多数为男性，年龄超过40岁，且属于棕肤色种族人群。**研究结论**：本次研究所考察的各项危险因素与HTLV/HIV合并感染之间未发现相关性。本研究为首次在巴西伯南布哥州报告HTLV-2感染病例。