HTLV-I infection in selected populations in Australia and the western Pacific region
Wylie, B.R.; Thomson, A.R.
Medical Journal of Australia 157(4): 286-287
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-729X PMID: 1435462 Document Number: 392545
The prevalence of infection with human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in 19 975 blood samples from Australia and the western Pacific was determined by measuring the presence of specific antibody (anti-HTLV-I) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with confirmation by western blot and/or radioimmunoprecipitation techniques. In Australia no evidence of HTLV-I infection was found in injecting drug users, patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), subjects attending a sexually transmitted diseases clinic, female prostitutes, or transfusion recipients. A low prevalence of infection was detected in people with haemophilia (0.5%) and in male homosexuals (0.5%-1%). No antibody was detected in sera from Vanuata, Kiribati, American Samoa, the Cook Islands, New Caledonia, and Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia and Fiji, but a low frequency of anti-HTLV-I was detected in sera from the Solomon Islands (1.2%) and Nauru (0.6%).