Abstract

Background and Aim: HTLV-I is the etiological cause of adult T-lymphocytic leukemia (ATL) and a chronic degenerative neurologic disorder, called tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP). HTLV infection can be transmitted through different ways: from mother to child or fetus, sexual intercourse, transfusion of contaminated blood or blood products, and sharing contaminated syringe needles. As the presence of these infections in high risk groups can be an approximate indicator of their prevalence in the society and blood donors, in this study was tried to find prevalence of HTLV in HIV positive or negative intravenous drug users (IVDU; patients with major thalassemia, and hemodialysis patients, in Sanandaj. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study included 351 cases: 130 HIV positive and 110 HIV negative intravenous drug users (IVDU), 46 cases of major thalassemia, and 65 hemodialysis patients. All participants completed written informed consent forms. After obtaining blood samples and serum separation, all specimens were kept in freezer at -20oC up to the time of analysis. Serum samples were screened for measurement of the titers of HTLV I&II antibodies by Dia-Pro ELISA kits, manufactured in Italy. Positive and suspicious reactions were reanalyzed. For confirmation of positive and suspicious reactions, samples with one positive reaction were examined by use of western blot kid (HTLV blot 2.4, manufactured by MP Diagnostics in Switzerland). Data were entered into SPSS 16 software and the prevalence rates of these viruses were obtained by using frequency distribution table. Results: The results of this study showed that one HIV positive, one HIV negative patient and another patient with major thalassemia were HTLV I positive (0.85). None of the hemodialysis patients had antibody against HTLV type 1. We did not find any antibody against HTLV type 2 in our study. Conclusions: The prevalence rate of HTLV (types 1 and 2) among these high risk groups was not high in Sanandaj. This may reflect its low prevalence in general population and in blood donors. However, it is necessary to take preventive measures to reduce its spread. To assess the exact prevalence rate we recommend screening of all donated blood samples and general population.