Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Short report
HTLV-1 cosmopolitan and HTLV-2 subtype b among pregnant women of non-endemic areas of Argentina
  1. Carolina A Berini1,
  2. Cecilia Delfino1,
  3. Oscar Torres2,
  4. Gabriela García3,
  5. Rogelio Espejo4,
  6. Luis Pianciola5,
  7. Mirna Juarez6,
  8. Graciela Arribere7,
  9. Mónica Nadal2,
  10. Maria E Eirin1,
  11. Mirna M Biglione1
  1. 1Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y SIDA (INBIRS), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  2. 2Hospital Materno-Infantil “Ramón Sardá”, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  3. 3Hospital “Pedro Fiorito”, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  4. 4Hospital “Guillermo Rawson”, San Juan, Argentina
  5. 5Hospital “Horacio Heller”, Neuquén, Argentina
  6. 6Hospital “Eduardo Castro Rendón”, Neuquén, Argentina
  7. 7Hospital Regional Ushuaia “Ernesto M. Campos”, Ushuaia, Argentina
  1. Correspondence to Dr Carolina A Berini, Instituto de Investigaciones, Biomédicas sobre Retrovirus y SIDA (INBIRS), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos, Aires. Paraguay 2155, Piso 11, Buenos Aires C1121ABG, Argentina; cberini{at}fmed.uba.ar

Abstract

Objectives The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of human T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV)-1/2, HIV-1, hepatitis B virus (HBV), Trypanosoma cruzi, Treponema pallidum and Toxoplasma gondii infections and to identify the subtypes/subgroups of HTLV-1/2 among pregnant women (PW) from non-endemic provinces of Argentina.

Methods Methods A total of 2403 samples were screened for HTLV-1/2 and confirmed by western blot and PCR. The long terminal repeat (LTR) of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 were amplified. Phylogenetic analysis was performed by Neighbour Joining by using molecular evolutionary genetics analysis (MEGA) 4.0.

Results Among a total of 2403 PW studied, 6 (0.25%) tested positive for HTLV-1/2 (3 HTLV-1 (0.12%) and 3 HTLV-2 (0.12%)). The total prevalence when distributed by province was 0.3% (3/804) for Buenos Aires (BA), 0.4% (1/241) for BA surroundings, 0.1% (1/707) for Neuquen and 1.0% (1/95) for Ushuaia. In San Juan, no PW were HTLV-1/2 positive. The prevalence was similar when compared with rates among blood donors of the same areas and years. The phylogenetic analysis classified one sequence as HTLV-1 aA and one as HTLV-2b. The prevalence of HIV-1, HBV, T cruzi, T pallidum and T gondii was 0.6%, 0.2%, 1.4%, 1.2% and 20.9%, respectively. One case of HTLV-1/HIV-1 and one of HTLV-2/HIV-1 co-infection were detected.

Conclusions HTLV-1/2, which have been associated with different diseases, are circulating among PW of Argentina, even in non-endemic areas. Therefore, testing should be recommended in women who have risk factors for these infections given that the majority of HTLV-1/2 mother to child transmission can be prevented by the avoidance of breast feeding.

  • HTLV-1
  • HTLV-II
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Pregnancy
  • Prevention

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.