Evaluation of HTLV-I/II infection in blood donors in Buenos Aires.

ABSTRACT

HTLV-I and HTLV-II are two related retroviruses that are transmitted by sexual contact, breast feeding, blood transfusion and needle sharing. In this study the prevalence of HTLV-I and HTLV-II was evaluated in voluntary blood donors as a measure of the infection in the general population. Samples were tested by a gelatine particle agglutination test and repeatedly reactive samples were confirmed by Western blot tests (WBT), enriched with recombinant rgp21, rgp461 y rgp4611 proteins, which differentiates HTLV-I and HTLV-II antibodies. Of 19,426 samples, 40 were repeatedly reactive by particle agglutination (0.21