1st International AIDS Conference Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. - April 14-17, 1985

Int Conf AIDS. 1985 Apr 14-17;1:26 Abstract No. S8A

Sirkka-Liisa Valle, C. Saxinger, A. Ranki, J. Suni, J. Antonen and K. Krohn
University Helsinki, Finland; NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD; Auror Hospital, Helsinki; and University Tampere, Tampere, Finland

The sexual contacts of 18 HTLV-III infected homosexual males in a low-incidence area of AIDS were repeatedly studied for HTLV-III antibodies during a follow-up of 10-18 months. Two of the index cases had AIDS, 3 ARC, 5 LAS, 3 enlarged lymph nodes and 5 were asymptomatic. Out of their sexual contects, 41 have been examined and followed up. Four (10%) of these became seropositive to HTLV-III. Three of these developed LAS. All seroconverted contacts had inverted Th/Ts ratio, elevated number of Ts cells prior to the seroconversion but decreased number of Th cells thereafter. All antibody positive contacts showed elevated titers to EBV or CMV viruses, signs of hepatitis B or intestinal parasitic infection. Out of the 37 still antibody negative contacts, 3 showed inverted Th/Ts ratio and decreased number of Th cells and 5 of them had enlarged extrasubmandibular lymph nodes suggestive of early LAS. The relatively slow rate of seroconversion among the sexual contacts of HTLV-III infected individuals implies that several factors such as excretion of infective virus or predisposition of the host, regulate the spread of the infection.

850414
S8A

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