Abstract
IntroductionTransmission of human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLV) occurs from mother to child, by sexual contact and blood transfusion. Presently, in most centres in Nigeria, there is no routine pre-transfusion screening for HTLV. The study aims to determine the prevalence of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 among healthy blood donors at a tertiary centre in Lagos.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out at the blood donor clinic of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja. About 5mls of venous blood was collected from each subject into a sterile plain bottle after obtaining subject's consent. The serum separated and stored at -200C. Sera were assayed for HTLV by an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) for the determination of antibodies to HTLV 1 and HTLV -2. Western blot confirmatory testing was done on reactive samples. All donors were also screened for HIV, HBsAg and HCV by rapid kits.ResultsThe seroprevalence of HTLV -1 by ELISA was 1.0% and 0.5% by Western Blot among blood donors. A total of 210 healthy blood donors were enrolled. Only 2 (1.0%) blood donors were repeatedly reactive with ELISA test. On confirmatory testing with Western Blot, 1 (0.5%) blood donor was positive for HTLV. All the healthy blood donors were negative for HIV, HbsAg and HCV. None of the 210 blood donors had been previously transfused; as such no association could be established between transfusion history and HTLV positivity among the blood donors.ConclusionThe seroprevalence of HTLV in this environment is low among healthy blood donors.
Highlights
Transmission of human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLV) occurs from mother to child, by sexual contact and blood transfusion
None of the 210 blood donors had been previously transfused; as such no association can be established between transfusion history and HTLV-1 positivity among the blood donors
On confirmatory testing with Western Blot, 1 (0.5%) blood donor was positive for HTLV-1.(Table 3) All the healthy blood donors were negative for HIV, HbsAg and HCV
Summary
Transmission of human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLV) occurs from mother to child, by sexual contact and blood transfusion. Results: The seroprevalence of HTLV -1 by ELISA was 1.0% and 0.5% by Western Blot among blood donors. On confirmatory testing with Western Blot, 1 (0.5%) blood donor was positive for HTLV. Over 20 million persons are infected with HTLV1and HTLV-2 globally with varying levels of seroprevalence reported in almost every region of the world [7]. These retroviruses are found in foci of micro-endemicity, in southern Japan [8], equatorial Africa [ 9,10], and parts of the Americas, including the Caribbean basin [11], and the South-Eastern USA [11]. The frequency of antibodies in symptom-free adults throughout SubSaharan Africa has been reported to be from 3 to 4% [12, 13]
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