AEGiS-12IAC: Increasing incidence of HTLV-II infection in Spain. HTLV Spanish Study Group.

12th International AIDS Conference

Geneva, Switzerland - June 28-July 3, 1998

Increasing incidence of HTLV-II infection in Spain. HTLV Spanish Study Group.

Int Conf AIDS 1998 Jun 28-Jul 3; 12:24 (abstract no. 11209)

Gutierrez M, Machuca A, Soriano U, Tuset C, Merino F, Ortiz L;;; Service Microbiology, ISC-III, Madrid, Spain.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the main characteristics of subjects with HTLV-II infection reported in Spain up to 31 December 1997, examining case report forms from the HTLV National Registry database.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The HTLV Spanish Study Group was founded in 1991, and includes participants from 18 diagnostic centers distributed for all the Spanish geography. An annual meeting is organized since 1991, which provides the opportunity to report and discuss the recent identified cases. Serological (EIA, LIAs and DBL Western blot) and/or genetic (PCR) methods are used to confirm HTLV-II infection.

RESULTS: 192 cases of HTLV-II infection have been reported and confirmed to date, being men 163 (85%). Thirty additional cases are still in the process to be confirmed, and are not discussed in this report. Age ranged between 20 and 72-year old. No pediatric cases have been found. Only 12 (6%) were immigrants, and one of them was co-infected with HIV-2. The remaining were Spanish native individuals, often with a past history of intravenous drug addition practices, although 5 subjects had acquired HTLV-II through heterosexual contact, and another through blood transfusion. In a national survey of HTLV infection among pregnant women, 5 (0.07%) cases were identified, and all of them were typed as HTLV-II, were former IDUs, and 4 being co-infected with HIV-1. No cases of HTLV-II infection have been identified among blood donors in Spain. Clinical symptoms potentially associated with HTLV-II were recognized in one individual who developed a proximal myopathy. HIV-1 co-infection was found in 155 (80.7%) subjects. From the total population, 10 (5.3%) already have died; all in association with AIDS complications. The incidence of HTLV-II has risen in IDUs to 2% in the last few years; and IDUs in jail seem to have the highest prevalence, suggesting that virus spreading is occurring through needle-sharing.

CONCLUSION: HTLV-II infection seem to be spreading among Spanish IDUs in the last few years, often in people already infected with HIV-1. HTLV-II instead of HTLV-I is infecting HTLV seropositive pregnant women.

Keywords: AEGIS, HTLV-II Infections, Human T-lymphotropic virus 2, Prevalence, HIV-2, Substance Abuse, Intravenous, Incidence, HIV-1, Deltaretrovirus Infections, Human T-lymphotropic virus 1, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Blotting, Western, Blood Donors, Emigration and Immigration, Spain, Greece, Human, Male, Child, Pregnancy, Female, epidemiology, ICA12
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