Int Conf AIDS. 1992 Jul 19-24;8(2):C282 (abstract no. PoC 4227). Unique
OBJECTIVES: We investigated HTLV-I and HTLV-II infection in children
born to HTLV-I seropositive or indeterminate Western-blot mothers in
Martinique by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and serology to
study maternal transmission in Martinique. METHODS: All serological
tests were performed twice, using ELISA ABBOTT for screening and Dupont
Western blot as a confirmatory test. PCR was performed using two primer
couples for HTLV-I chosen in gag and pol regions, and one primer couple
for HTLV-II chosen in pol region. Amplified product were revealed by
liquid hybridization with specific probes as described by OU et al.
RESULTS: Only HTLV-I and no HTLV-II positive samples were found in this
study. All the samples from HTLV-I seropositive children and adults were
PCR positive, whereas the 4 HIV-1 seropositive and Western-blot HTLV-I
negative mothers and their 8 children were all PCR negative. Therefore,
PCR and serology were in complete agreement in these patients. However,
2 out of the 6 mothers who were first indeterminate by Wb, and who later
became seronegative, were found positive by PCR. Of the 27 children
(ages 2-12 years), born to HTLV-I seropositive and PCR positive mothers,
2 were seropositive and PCR positive, 8 were seronegative and PCR
positive with 2 primer pairs, and 2 seronegative and PCR positive with
only one of the primer pairs. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a
minimal rate of transmission of approximatively 35%. Our study confirms
that PCR is useful in detecting HTLV-I infection in children before
seroconversion. This study underlines the potential lack of sensitivity
of serology to detect contaminating HTLV-I blood units in endemic areas.
Child Child, Preschool Female Human HTLV-I Infections/*TRANSMISSION
HTLV-II Infections/TRANSMISSION Martinique/EPIDEMIOLOGY Polymerase
Chain Reaction Pregnancy *Pregnancy Complications, Infectious
Retrospective Studies Sensitivity and Specificity Seroepidemiologic
Methods ABSTRACT