1.
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg
; 90(2): 122-5, 1996.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-8761567
ABSTRACT
Sera from 653 female prostitutes and 153 male sexual clients living in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Brazil, were tested for the presence of antibodies to human T cell lymphotropic virus types I and II. Seroprevalence for HTLV-I in the females was 2.8% and in the males 2.0%. Infection by HTLV-II could not be demonstrated. Seropositivity to HTLV-I was not associated with intravenous drug use, modality of sexual behaviour or a history of sexually transmitted disease. Among the prostitutes, the prevalence of anti-HTLV-I antibodies was 3 times higher in those with a history of blood transfusion (P = 0.01).