The prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 & 2 (HTLV-1/2) in South African blood donors.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objectives

Donated blood is not currently screened for human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) in South Africa. Several small studies have detected HTLV-1 in South Africa, but prevalence by geographic region or population group is unavailable.

Materials and methods

We performed a large seroprevalence study of South African blood donors during 3 months in 2013. All geographic regions except the Western Cape were included, and Black and Coloured (local term for mixed race) donors were oversampled. Identity-unlinked plasma samples were screened with the Abbott Prism HTLV-1/2 assay, and repeatedly reactive samples were tested by the Inno-LIA HTLV-1/2 Score confirmatory assay. Odds ratios were calculated with multivariable logistic regression.

Results

Of 46 7

SUBMITTER: Vermeulen M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7413069 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature