251. HUMAN T LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS TYPE I (HTLV-I) INFECTION IN NEUROLOGICAL PATIENTS IN SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRAZIL
- Author
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Fernando Augusto Proietti, Otávio A. Moreno-Carvalho, Luiz Antonio M Loures, Ailton Melo, Irênio Gomes, Bernardo Galvão-Castro, Bernard Larouzé, Gérard Said, and Marie Christine Dazza
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Pediatrics ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,Cross-sectional study ,Immunology ,Chronic myelopathy ,HIV Antibodies ,Human T-lymphotropic virus ,Seroepidemiologic Studies ,Virology ,Epidemiology ,Humans ,Medicine ,Immunology and Allergy ,In patient ,Treponema pallidum ,biology ,Deltaretrovirus Antibodies ,business.industry ,Middle Aged ,biology.organism_classification ,Antibodies, Bacterial ,HTLV-I Infections ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Neurology ,HTLV-I infections ,Female ,Neurology (clinical) ,Viral disease ,Nervous System Diseases ,business ,Brazil - Abstract
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.
- Published
- 1999