RESUMEN
HTLV-I infection represents a major health concern in endemic areas throughout the world, such as Salvador, the main city of Bahia State, with socio-demographic characteristics similar to sub-Saharan African cities, located in the Northeast of Brazil. In order to provide an estimate of the frequency distribution, and range of neurological manifestations potentially related to HTLV-I infection in this city, we conducted a cross-sectional clinical-epidemiological study to determine the prevalence of this infection in patients with neurological diseases. Patients exhibiting vascular diseases, tumoral diseases or trauma were excluded. Over a period of 16 months, we studied 322 consecutive patients with chronic neurological diseases, who attended the neurological clinics of two major hospitals in Salvador. Overall, the prevalence of HTLV-I infection among the patients was 20.9% (67/320). However, the prevalence among the 104 patients with chronic myelopathy was 50.0% (52/104). It was observed that the major prevalence of HTLV-I was between the ages of 40 and 60 years with a female predominance. Our data indicate that, in Salvador city, HTLV-I is associated with chronic myelopathies or myeloneuropathies, which seem to be the only neurological diseases associated with HTLV-I.
Asunto(s)
Infecciones por HTLV-I/epidemiología , Enfermedades del Sistema Nervioso/epidemiología , Adolescente , Adulto , Anticuerpos Antibacterianos/análisis , Brasil/epidemiología , Estudios Transversales , Anticuerpos Antideltaretrovirus/análisis , Femenino , Anticuerpos Anti-VIH/análisis , Infecciones por HTLV-I/líquido cefalorraquídeo , Infecciones por HTLV-I/diagnóstico , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Enfermedades del Sistema Nervioso/diagnóstico , Enfermedades del Sistema Nervioso/etiología , Estudios Seroepidemiológicos , Treponema pallidum/inmunologíaRESUMEN
HTLV-1 infection is endemic in Japan, black Africa, the Caribbean and several regions of South America. In these foci, the infections is very heterogeneously distributed (variations from village to village, intrafamilial clustering). The virus is transmitted from mother to child, and breast feedings seems to play a major role. Sexual transmission is usually from man to woman. The frequency of transmission by blood transfusion must not be underestimated. It justifies the systematic detection of HTLV-1 infection in areas where it is economically feasible.