Coexistence of human T-lymphotropic virus types I and II among the Wayuu Indians from the Guajira Region of Colombia. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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Coexistence of human T-lymphotropic virus types I and II among the Wayuu Indians from the Guajira Region of Colombia.

AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 1992 Nov;8(11):1851-5. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/93143993
Duenas-Barajas E; Bernal JE; Vaught DR; Briceno I; Duran C; Yanagihara R; Gajdusek DC; Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute; of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of; Health, Bethesda, MD.

Abstract: High prevalences of human T-lymphotropic virus type II (HTLV-II) infection have been found recently among certain Amerindian groups in North, Central, and South America. To determine if the Amerindians of Colombia are similarly affected, 523 sera, collected between 1987 and 1990 from nine culturally distinct Indian groups from widely separated regions, were tested for IgG antibodies against HTLV-I/II using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot. In addition, 243 sera from five non-Indian (black) and mixed-Indian (mestizo) populations were studied. Of the 766 individuals tested, 44 were ELISA positive, but of these, only four were Western blot positive. Three of the individuals confirmed positive by Western blot were infected with HTLV-II and one was infected with HTLV-I, as determined by differential ELISA. All four seropositive individuals belonged to a group of 62 Wayuu Indians, giving overall HTLV-I and HTLV-II seroprevalences of 1.6% and 4.8%, respectively. The coexistence of HTLV-I and HTLV-II in this Amerindian group provides an opportunity to study the factors governing transmission of these retroviruses.
Keywords: Blotting, Western Colombia/ETHNOLOGY Comparative Study Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay HTLV-I Antibodies/BLOOD HTLV-I Infections/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/IMMUNOLOGY HTLV-II Antibodies/BLOOD HTLV-II Infections/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/IMMUNOLOGY *Indians, South American Support, Non-U.S. Gov't JOURNAL ARTICLEKWDblotting,westerncolombia/ethnologycomparativestudyenzyme-linkedimmunosorbentassayhtlv-iantibodies/bloodhtlv-iinfections/KWDepidemiology/immunologyhtlv-iiantibodies/bloodhtlv-iiinfections/KWDepidemiology/immunologyKWDindians,southamericansupport,non-uKWDsKWDgov'tjournalarticle
930530
M9350974

Copyright © 1993 - National Library of Medicine. Reproduced under license with the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

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