Abstract
AbstractHuman T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) is a retrovirus that causes adult T-cell leukemia. The male-to-female transmission is stronger than the reverse, so the carrier proportion of women is greater than that of men. On the other hand, since the mother-to-child transmission route via the breast-feeding is common for baby boys and girls, it has been thought the HTLV-I proportions of boys and girls are the same until now. A question arises as to whether the ‘innate protection powers against human virus’ are the same between males and females. We utilize HTLV-I infection blood donor data in 1995-1998 and case data of main infectious diseases such as influenza, mumps, herpangina, hand-hoot-and-mouse disease, chicken pox, etc. Blood donor data in 1995-1998, which were provided by Japan Red Cross Society of Oita, Japan, are summarized into the frequency table with respect to gender and age. The age groups are < 20, 20 < age , 30 < age , 40 < age , and > 50 years old. The comparison of carrier proportions of males and females under 20 years old is made with a two-sided statistical test and for the other groups one-sided tests are carried out. In case data published from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan, comparisons of the incidence rates of males and females in infectious diseases are carried out with two-sided tests. The present paper shows that the HTLV-I carrier proportion of girls is less than that that of boys. It implies that in HTLV-I the mother-to-child transmission probability of females is less than that of males. With respect to the other main infectious diseases, the majority of cases are under twenty years old, and the incidence rates of females are also significantly less than those of males. According to the present findings, it follows that the female’s innate protection power against HTLV-I is stronger than that of males, and the conclusion may become a valid proposition for general human virus.
Highlights
HTLV-I carriers have chances to be screened through the blood donation and blood tests
In Japan, pregnant women infected with HTLV-I have recommended not to feed their babies on mother's milk since 1985
AG1 can be viewed as a population without the screening effect, i.e. a natural population
Summary
In Japan, pregnant women infected with HTLV-I have recommended not to feed their babies on mother's milk since 1985 From this measure, carriers of infants are decreasing every year[30,31]; blood donors in Table 1 is not affected from this medical intervention, because ages of blood donors in Japan are greater or equal to fifteen years old and the data were obtained in 1995 to 1998. The effect of screening on AG2 and AG3 of females is very strong, because the majority of the reproductive population in Japan is in the age groups and HTLV-I infection is informed to pregnant women concerned. By using the HTLV-I carrier data of healthy residents of Okinawa, Japan, in periods 1968-
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