Clustering of human T lymphotropic virus type I seropositive in Montserrat, West Indies: evidence for an environmental factor in transmission of the virus

J Infect Dis. 1994 Jul;170(1):44-50. doi: 10.1093/infdis/170.1.44.

Abstract

A community survey of human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in Montserrat, West Indies, identified 22 instances in which 2 HTLV-I-seropositive adults lived within 60 m of each other (close pairs), compared with 7.8 expected (P < .001). Five of these close pairs were mother-offspring or husband-wife. The remaining 17 pairs were of unrelated members in separate households. The percentages of male-female (41%), female-female (41%), and male-male (18%) types in these 17 pairs were very similar to those among the 1377 similarly defined pairs in which neither or only 1 member was seropositive, affording no support for extramarital heterosexual activity as an explanation for the clustering observed. Thus, the demography of HTLV-I was not accounted for completely by sexual and mother-to-offspring transmission. The predominance of clustering of unrelated HTLV-I-seropositive individuals in locations with high mosquito infestation raised the possibility of sporadic transmission of HTLV-I by hematophagous insects.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aedes
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Viral / analysis
  • Demography
  • Dengue / epidemiology
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Female
  • HTLV-I Infections / epidemiology*
  • HTLV-I Infections / transmission
  • Humans
  • Insect Vectors
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • West Indies / epidemiology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral