TY - JOUR
T1 - HTLV-2 infection in injection drug users in King County, Washington
AU - Zunt, Joseph
AU - Tapia, Ken
AU - Thiede, Hanne
AU - Lee, Rong
AU - Hagan, Holly
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank the HSV and HTLV laboratories at the Centers for Disease Control, specifically Ms. Donna Rudolph as well as laboratory support from Paul Swenson of the Public Health · Seattle and King County Laboratory. This work was supported by grants from NIAID (K23-AI01600, Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Grant AI27757), NIDA (1RO1DA08023 and 1F31DA05680), and CDC (U62/CCU006260).
PY - 2006/8
Y1 - 2006/8
N2 - Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-2) is endemic in injection drug users (IDU), and native American populations in the Americas. Transmission is associated with high-risk injection and sexual practices. A cohort of 2561 IDU in King County, Washington completed 2 study visits over 1 y. HTLV-2 infection was detected in 190 (7.4%) of 2561 IDU, and 13 (7.8 cases per 1000 person-y) incident infections occurred during the study. Prevalent infection was associated with female gender, non-white race, longer duration as IDU, having a tattoo, combined injection of heroin and cocaine, and with serologic evidence of hepatitis B and C infection. Seroconversion was more common in women, and was associated with African American race, heterosexual identity and longer duration as IDU. In conclusion, increased risk of HTLV-2 infection was associated with non-white race, and injection drug of choice, suggesting injection networks may play an important role in transmission of HTLV-2. The high correlation of HTLV-2 infection with HCV infection suggests the major route of transmission in IDU is via injection practices. Additional studies are needed to examine the clinical manifestations of HTLV-2 infection, as well as the clinical and virological manifestations of HTLV-2/HCV coinfection.
AB - Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-2) is endemic in injection drug users (IDU), and native American populations in the Americas. Transmission is associated with high-risk injection and sexual practices. A cohort of 2561 IDU in King County, Washington completed 2 study visits over 1 y. HTLV-2 infection was detected in 190 (7.4%) of 2561 IDU, and 13 (7.8 cases per 1000 person-y) incident infections occurred during the study. Prevalent infection was associated with female gender, non-white race, longer duration as IDU, having a tattoo, combined injection of heroin and cocaine, and with serologic evidence of hepatitis B and C infection. Seroconversion was more common in women, and was associated with African American race, heterosexual identity and longer duration as IDU. In conclusion, increased risk of HTLV-2 infection was associated with non-white race, and injection drug of choice, suggesting injection networks may play an important role in transmission of HTLV-2. The high correlation of HTLV-2 infection with HCV infection suggests the major route of transmission in IDU is via injection practices. Additional studies are needed to examine the clinical manifestations of HTLV-2 infection, as well as the clinical and virological manifestations of HTLV-2/HCV coinfection.
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U2 - 10.1080/00365540600617009
DO - 10.1080/00365540600617009
M3 - Article
C2 - 16857611
AN - SCOPUS:33746656193
SN - 0036-5548
VL - 38
SP - 654
EP - 663
JO - Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases
JF - Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases
IS - 8
ER -