TY - JOUR
T1 - Human T-lymphotropic virus types 1 and 2 are rare among intravenous drug users in Eastern Europe
AU - Jõgeda, Ene Ly
AU - Avi, Radko
AU - Pauskar, Merit
AU - Kallas, Eveli
AU - Karki, Tõnis
AU - Des Jarlais, Don
AU - Uusküla, Anneli
AU - Lutsar, Irja
AU - Huik, Kristi
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support: the Basic Financing and the Target Financing of Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (grant SF0180004s12 , IUT34-24 , and IUT34-17 ); Estonian Science Foundation (grants ETF8856 and ETF8415 ); European Union through the European Regional Development Fund , and the National Institute of Health (USA) grant R01AI0832035 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2016/9/1
Y1 - 2016/9/1
N2 - Background: In Europe, human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) type 2 mainly occurs among intravenous drug users (IDUs) with prevalence up to 15% and HTLV-1 among general population with prevalence <. 1%. However, there is no data regarding the prevalence of HTLV-1 or HTLV-2 in Eastern European IDUs population where HIV prevalence is relatively high. We aimed to determine the prevalence and genotypes of HTLV-1/HTLV-2 among IDUs and healthy volunteers in Estonia. Methods: The study included 345 IDUs and 138 healthy volunteers. The presence of HTLV-1/HTLV-2 was determined by nested PCR; positive and negative controls were used in every PCR run. Results: The analysed IDUs resembled the IDUs of HIV epidemic in Estonia: mainly male (79%) with median age of 30 years (interquartile range [IQR] 25-34), and prolonged duration of intravenous drug usage (11 years; IQR 7-14). The prevalence exposure to blood-borne viral infections was high - 50% were HIV positive, 88% hepatitis C positive, 67% hepatitis B positive. Of IDUs, 64% reported receptive needle sharing in the past and 18% at least once a month during last six months. None of the IDUs carried HTLV-1 but there was a case of HTLV-2 (prevalence 0.3%; 95% CI 0.1-1.6). All healthy volunteers were HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 PCR negative. Conclusion: This is the first study investigating the prevalence of HTLV-1/HTLV-2 among high risk population and healthy volunteers in Eastern European region. Our results suggest that despite other widely spread blood-borne infections (e.g. HIV, HBV, HCV) HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 are rare among IDUs in Estonia.
AB - Background: In Europe, human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) type 2 mainly occurs among intravenous drug users (IDUs) with prevalence up to 15% and HTLV-1 among general population with prevalence <. 1%. However, there is no data regarding the prevalence of HTLV-1 or HTLV-2 in Eastern European IDUs population where HIV prevalence is relatively high. We aimed to determine the prevalence and genotypes of HTLV-1/HTLV-2 among IDUs and healthy volunteers in Estonia. Methods: The study included 345 IDUs and 138 healthy volunteers. The presence of HTLV-1/HTLV-2 was determined by nested PCR; positive and negative controls were used in every PCR run. Results: The analysed IDUs resembled the IDUs of HIV epidemic in Estonia: mainly male (79%) with median age of 30 years (interquartile range [IQR] 25-34), and prolonged duration of intravenous drug usage (11 years; IQR 7-14). The prevalence exposure to blood-borne viral infections was high - 50% were HIV positive, 88% hepatitis C positive, 67% hepatitis B positive. Of IDUs, 64% reported receptive needle sharing in the past and 18% at least once a month during last six months. None of the IDUs carried HTLV-1 but there was a case of HTLV-2 (prevalence 0.3%; 95% CI 0.1-1.6). All healthy volunteers were HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 PCR negative. Conclusion: This is the first study investigating the prevalence of HTLV-1/HTLV-2 among high risk population and healthy volunteers in Eastern European region. Our results suggest that despite other widely spread blood-borne infections (e.g. HIV, HBV, HCV) HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 are rare among IDUs in Estonia.
KW - Blood-borne infection
KW - Co-infection
KW - HIV
KW - HTLV-1/2
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84969792622&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84969792622&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.meegid.2016.05.022
DO - 10.1016/j.meegid.2016.05.022
M3 - Article
C2 - 27223634
AN - SCOPUS:84969792622
VL - 43
SP - 83
EP - 85
JO - Infection, Genetics and Evolution
JF - Infection, Genetics and Evolution
SN - 1567-1348
ER -