1887

Journal of Medical Microbiology logo

Volume 55, Issue 6

Seroprevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I among pregnant women in Accra, Ghana Free

Abstract

Infection with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) occurs mainly in Japan, Central and West Africa and the Caribbean Basin. Although antibody to HTLV-I has been reported among pregnant women in several endemic countries, there is no information regarding the seroprevalence in pregnant Ghanaian women. The reported seroprevalence of HTLV-I among healthy Ghanaian blood donors is between 0.5 and 4.2 %. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of HTLV-I among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at the 37 Military Hospital, Accra, Ghana, between the months of January and December 2003. The presence of antibodies specific for HTLV-I/II was tested using a particle agglutination test (PAT) kit and confirmed by Western blotting (WB). Of the 960 sera tested, HTLV-I/II antibodies were detected in 24 samples using the PAT kit. WB results indicated that, of the 24 positive PAT specimens, 20 specimens (83.3 %) were HTLV-I positive, one (4.2 %) was HTLV-II positive, two (8.3 %) were HTLV positive and one (4.2 %) was indeterminate. Therefore, the overall seroprevalence of HTLV-I was 2.1 %. Seroprevalence increased with age, suggesting sexual contact as the primary mode of transmission among women of childbearing age, rather than breastfeeding during infancy. The seroprevalence of 2.1 % reported here for HTLV-I in pregnant women in Accra is comparable to that of human immunodeficiency virus among the same population. In conclusion, the results indicate that HTLV-I is prevalent among asymptomatic Ghanaian pregnant women and thus there is a need to consider introducing antenatal screening for HTLV-I in Ghana.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): ATLL, adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma , HIV, human immunodeficiency virus , HTLV-I, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I , PAT, particle agglutination test and WB, Western blotting
SGM
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.46426-0
2006-06-01
2024-04-25
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/jmm/55/6/765.html?itemId=/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.46426-0&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Ades A. E., Parker S., Walker J., Edginton M., Taylor G. P., Weber J. N. 2000; Human T cell leukaemia/lymphoma virus infection in pregnant women in the United Kingdom: population study. BMJ 320:1497–1501 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Adjei A. A., Adiku T. K., Ayeh-Kumi P. F., Armah H., Ansah J., Hesse I. F. A. 2003a; Prevalence of antibodies to human T-lymphotropic virus type I among blood doors in Accra, Ghana. Ghana Medical J 37:133–136
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Adjei A. A., Adiku T. K., Ayeh-Kumi P. F., Domfeh A. B. 2003b; Human T-lymphotropic type-I virus specific antibody detected in sera of HIV/AIDS patients in Ghana. Jpn J Infect Dis 56:57–59
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Ampofo W., Nii-Trebi N., Ansah J. & 8 other authors; 2002; Prevalence of blood-borne infectious diseases in blood donors in Ghana. J Clin Microbiol 40:3523–3525 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Andersson S., Dias F., Mendez P. J., Rodrigues A., Biberfeld G. 1997; HTLV-I and HTLV-II infections in a nationwide survey of pregnant women in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 15:320–322 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bittencourt A. L., Dourado I., Filho P. B., Santos M., Valadão E., Alcantara L. C. J., Galvão-Castro B. 2001; Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 infection among pregnant women in northeastern Brazil. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 26:490–494 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Blattner W. A., Saxinger C., Riedel D., Hull B., Taylor G., Cleghorn F., Gallo R., Blumberg B., Bartholomew C. 1990; A study of HTLV-I and its associated risk factors in Trinidad and Tobago. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 3:1102–1108
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Carles G., Tortevoye P., Tuppin P., Ureta-Vidal A., Peneau C., El Guindi W., Gessain A. 2004; HTLV-1 infection and pregnancy. J Gynecol Obstet Biol Reprod 33:14–20 (in French [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Cleghorn F. R., Manns A., Falk R. & 7 other authors; 1995; Effect of human T-lymphotropic virus type I infection on non-Hodgkin's lymphoma incidence. J Natl Cancer Inst 87:1009–1014 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Delaporte E., Dupont A., Peeters M. & 9 other authors; 1988; Epidemiology of HTLV-I in Gabon (Western Equatorial Africa). Int J Cancer 42:687–689 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Delaporte E., Buve A., Nzila N. & 7 other authors; 1995; HTLV-I infection among prostitutes and pregnant women in Kinshasa, Zaire: how important is high-risk sexual behavior?. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retroviruses 8:511–515 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Del Mistro A., Chotard J., Hall A. J., Fortuin M., Whittle H., de Rossi A., Chieco-Bianchi L. 1994; HTLV-I/II seroprevalence in The Gambia: a study of mother–child pairs. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 10:617–620 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  13. dos Santos J. I., Lopes M. A., Deliege-Vasconcelos E., Couto-Fernandez J. C., Patel B. N., Barreto M. L., Ferreira Junior O. C., Galvao-Castro B. 1995; Seroprevalence of HIV, HTLV-I/II and other perinatally transmitted pathogens in Salvador, Bahia. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo 37:343–348 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Dowe G., King S. D., Smikle M. F., Wynter H. H., Chout R., Klaskala W. 1998; Prevalence of viral and bacterial sexually transmitted pathogens in Jamaican pregnant women. West Indian Med J 47:23–25
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Gessain A., Barin F., Vernant J. C., Gout O., Maurs L., Calender A., de Thé G. 1985; Antibodies to human T-lymphotropic virus type-I in patients with tropical spastic paraparesis. Lancet ii407–410
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Goubau P., Desmyter J., Swanson P., Reynders M., Shih J., Surmont I., Kazadi K., Lee H. 1993; Detection of HTLV-I and HTLV-II infection in Africans using type-specific envelope peptides. J Med Virol 39:28–32 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Hale A., Leung T., Sivasubramanian S., Kenny J., Sutherland S. 1997; Prevalence of antibodies to HTLV in antenatal clinic attenders in south east London. J Med Virol 52:326–329 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Hanchard B. 1996; Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma in Jamaica: 1986–1995. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 13:S20–S25 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Hino S., Katamine S., Miyata H., Tsuji Y., Yamabe T., Miyamoto T. 1996; Primary prevention of HTLV-I in Japan. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 13:S199–S203 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Hirata M., Hayashi J., Noguchi A., Nakashima K., Kajiyama W., Kashiwagi S., Sawada T. 1992; The effects of breastfeeding and presence of antibody to p40tax protein of human T cell lymphotropic virus type-I on mother to child transmission. Int J Epidemiol 21:989–994 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Inaba S., Okochi K., Sato H., Fukada K., Kinukawa N., Nakata H., Kinjyo K., Fujii F., Maeda Y. 1999; Efficacy of donor screening for HTLV-I and the natural history of transfusion-transmitted infection. Transfusion 39:1104–1110 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Kajiyama W., Kashiwagi S., Ikematsu H., Hayashi J., Nomura H., Okochi K. 1986; Intrafamilial transmission of adult T cell leukemia virus. J Infect Dis 154:851–857 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Kashiwagi K., Furusyo N., Nakashima H., Kubo N., Kinukawa N., Kashiwagi S., Hayashi J. 2004; A decrease in mother-to-child transmission of human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in Okinawa, Japan. Am J Trop Med Hyg 70:158–163
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Kazanji M., Gessain A. 2003; Human T-cell lymphotropic virus types I and II (HTLV-I/II) in French Guiana: clinical and molecular epidemiology. Cad Saude Publica Rio de Janeiro 19:1227–1240 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Kishihara Y., Furusyo N., Kashiwagi K., Mitsutake A., Kashiwagi S., Hayashi J. 2001; Human T lymphotropic virus type 1 infection influences hepatitis C virus clearance. J Infect Dis 184:1114–1119 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Lal R. B., Owen S. M., Mingle J., Levine P. H., Manns A. 1994; Presence of human T-lymphotropic virus types I and II in Ghana, West Africa. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 10:1747–1750 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Manns A., Wilks R. J., Murphy E. L., Haynes G., Figueroa J. P., Barnett M., Hanchard B., Blattner W. A. 1992; A prospective study of transmission by transfusion of HTLV-I and risk factors associated with seroconversion. Int J Cancer 51:886–891 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Mansuy J. M., Schlegel L., Villeneuve L., Mengelle C., Magnaval J. F. 1999; Seroprevalence of retroviral infections among pregnant women in Martinique (French West Indies. Am J Trop Med Hyg 61:598–599
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Melo J., Beby-Defaux A., Faria C., Guiraud G., Folgosa E., Barreto A., Agius G. 2000; HIV and HTLV prevalences among women seen for sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy follow-up in Maputo, Mozambique. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 23:203–204 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Ministry of Health 1990 Policy Guidelines and Annual Report Accra, Ghana: Maternal & Child Health Unit, Ghana Health Service;
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Ministry of Health 2004; HIV Sentinel Survey 2004 Report . Accra, Ghana: National AIDS/STI Control Programme, Ghana Health Service; http://www.who.int/countries/gha/publications/Sentinel_Report_2004.pdf
  32. Murphy E. L., Figueroa J. P., Gibbs W. N., Holding-Cobham M., Cranston B., Malley K., Bodner A. J., Alexander S. S., Blattner W. A. 1991; Human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) seroprevalence in Jamaica. I. Demographic determinants. Am J Epidemiol 133:1114–1124
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Nightingale S., Orton D., Ratcliffe D., Skidmore S., Tosseill J., Desselberger U. 1993; Antenatal survey for the seroprevalence of HTLV-I infections in the West Midlands, England. Epidemiol Infect 110:379–387 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Okochi K., Sato H., Hinuma Y. 1984; A retrospective study on transmission of adult T cell leukemia virus by blood transfusion: seroconversion in recipients. Vox Sang 46:245–253 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Osame M., Matsumoto M., Usuku K., Izumo S., Ijichi N., Amitani H., Tara M., Igata A. 1987; Chronic progressive myelopathy associated with elevated antibodies to human T-lymphotropic virus type I and adult T-cell leukemialike cells. Ann Neurol 2:117–122
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Otigbah C., Kelly A., Aitken C., Norman J., Jeffries D., Erskine K. J. 1997; Is HTLV-I status another antenatal screening test that we need?. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 104:258–260 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Poiesz B. J., Ruscetti F. W., Gazdar A. F., Bunn P. A., Minna J. D., Gallo R. C. 1980; Detection and isolation of type C retrovirus particles from fresh and cultured lymphocytes of a patient with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 77:7415–7419 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Sanchez-Palacios C., Gotuzzo E., Vandamme A. M., Maldonado Y. 2003; Seroprevalence and risk factors for human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV-I) infection among ethnically and geographically diverse Peruvian women. Int J Infect Dis 7:132–137 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Sarkodie F., Adarkwa M., Adu-Sarkodie Y., Candotti D., Acheampong J. W., Allain J. P. 2001; Screening for viral markers in volunteer and replacement blood donors in West Africa. Vox Sang 80:142–147 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Schrijvers D., Delaporte E., Peeters M., Dupont A., Meheus A. 1991; Seroprevalence of retroviral infection in women with different fertility statuses in Gabon, western equatorial Africa. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 4:468–470
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Takatsuki K., Matsuoka M., Yamaguchi K. 1996; Adult T-cell leukemia in Japan. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol 13:S15–S19 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Takezaki T., Tajima K., Ito M., Ito S., Kinoshita K., Tachibana K., Matsushita Y. 1997; Short-term breast-feeding may reduce the risk of vertical transmission of HTLV-I. The Tsushima ATL Study Group. Leukemia 11 (Suppl. 3):60–62
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Taylor G. P., Bodéus M., Courtois F. & 11 other authors; 2005; The seroepidemiology of human T-lymphotropic viruses types I and II in Europe: a prospective study of pregnant women. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 38:104–109 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Tsuji Y., Doi H., Yamabe T., Ishimaru T., Miyamoto T., Hino S. 1990; Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of human T-lymphotropic virus type-I. Pediatrics 86:11–17
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Tuppin P., Makuwa M., Guerma T., Bazabana M. M., Loukaka J. C., Jeannel D. M'Pele P., de Thé G. 1996; Low HTLV-I/II seroprevalence in pregnant women in Congo and a geographic cluster of an HTLV-like indeterminate Western blot pattern. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol 11:105–107 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Weber J. N., Taylor G. P. 1996; Antenatal screening is important. BMJ 312:706 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Wiktor S. Z., Pate E. J., Rosenberg P. S., Barnett M., Palmer B., Medeiros D., Maloney E. M., Blattner W. A. 1997; Mother-to-child transmission of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I associated with prolonged breast-feeding. J Hum Virol 1:37–44
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Yoshida M., Miyoshi I., Hinuma Y. 1982; Isolation and characterization of retrovirus from cell lines of human adult T-cell leukemia and its implication in the disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 79:2031–2035 [CrossRef]
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Zurita S., Costa C., Watts D., Indacochea S., Campos P., Sanchez J., Gotuzza E. 1997; Prevalence of human retroviral infection in Quillabamba and Cuzco, Peru: a new endemic area for human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1. Am J Trop Med Hyg 56:561–565
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.46426-0
Loading
Seroprevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I among pregnant women in Accra, Ghana
J. Med. Microbiol. 55, 765 (2006); https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.46426-0
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.46426-0
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.46426-0
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Most cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error