2012-06-01
Maternal proviral load and vertical transmission of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 in Guinea-Bissau
Publication
Publication
AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses , Volume 28 - Issue 6 p. 584- 590
The relative importance of routes of transmission of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) in Guinea-Bissau is largely unknown; vertical transmission is thought to be important, but there are very few existing data. We aimed to examine factors associated with transmission in mothers and children in Guinea-Bissau, where HTLV-1 is endemic (prevalence of 5% in the adult population). A cross-sectional survey was performed among mothers and their children (aged <15 years) in a rural community in Guinea-Bissau. A questionnaire to identify risk factors for infection and a blood sample were obtained. HTLV-1 proviral load in peripheral blood was determined and PCR was performed to compare long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences in mother-child pairs. Fourteen out of 55 children (25%) of 31 HTLV-1-infected mothers were infected versus none of 70 children of 30 uninfected mothers. The only factor significantly associated with HTLV-1 infection in the child was the proviral load of the mother; the risk of infection increased significantly with the log 10 proviral load in the mother's peripheral blood (OR 5.5, 95% CI 2.1-14.6, per quartile), adjusted for weaning age and maternal income. HTLV-1 sequences of the LTR region obtained from mother-child pairs were identical within pairs but differed between the pairs. Vertical transmission plays an important role in HTLV-1 transmission in this community in Guinea-Bissau. The risk of transmission increases with the mother's proviral load in the peripheral blood. Identical sequences in mother-child pairs give additional support to the maternal source of the children's infection.
Additional Metadata | |
---|---|
doi.org/10.1089/aid.2011.0219, hdl.handle.net/1765/59332 | |
AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses | |
Organisation | Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases |
van Tienen, C., McConkey, S., de Silva, T., Cotten, M., Kaye, S., Sarge-Njie, R., … Schim van der Loeff, M. (2012). Maternal proviral load and vertical transmission of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 in Guinea-Bissau. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 28(6), 584–590. doi:10.1089/aid.2011.0219 |