Seroprevalence of HTLV infection among immigrant pregnant women in the Mediterranean coast of Spain

Abstract

Background: Universal HTLV antenatal screening is currently not mandatory in European countries. However, the large number of immigrants coming from HTLV-I endemic areas might force to change this recommendation in the near future.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of HTLV infections in immigrant pregnant women attended in a general Hospital in the Mediterranean coast of Spain.

Study design: From February 2006 to December 2009, a cross-sectional study was carried out on all immigrant pregnant women attended at a reference obstetric unit in Elche, Spain. An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was used for testing HTLV-I/II antibodies in serum, being reactive samples further confirmed by Western blot.

Results: A total of 1439 immigrant pregnant women were examined. Overall, 520 (36.1%) came from Central and South America and 90 (6.2%) from Sub-Saharan Africa, where HTLV infection is endemic. Three samples were EIA-seroreactive for HTLV-1/2. One of them was a woman infected with HTLV-I coming from Brazil and the other two were women infected with HTLV-II coming from Bolivia and Colombia, respectively. Thus, the overall HTLV seroprevalence in the study population was 2.1 per 1000 (95% CI: 0.5-6.6/1000), although it reached to 0.58% in the subset of women from Central and South America.

Conclusions: HTLV antenatal screening should be considered in pregnant women coming from Central and South America, in whom the prevalence of infection is relatively high and avoidance of breastfeeding may effectively prevent vertical HTLV transmission.