Immigrating and vicinity are not risk factors in the prevalence and transmission rate of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1: A Survey in an endemic region of Iran and Afghan refugees

Maryam Mahdifar; Mohammad Reza Akbari-Eidgahi; Arman Mosavat; Alireza Pourreza; Mohammad Mehdi Akbarin; Narges Valizadeh; Seyed Abdolrahim Rezaee; Houshang Rafatpanah

doi:10.1371/journal.pgph.0001484

Immigrating and vicinity are not risk factors in the prevalence and transmission rate of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1: A Survey in an endemic region of Iran and Afghan refugees

PLOS Glob Public Health. 2023 Jan 10;3(1):e0001484. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001484. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Maryam Mahdifar¹, Mohammad Reza Akbari-Eidgahi², Arman Mosavat³, Alireza Pourreza¹, Mohammad Mehdi Akbarin¹, Narges Valizadeh¹, Seyed Abdolrahim Rezaee¹, Houshang Rafatpanah¹

Affiliations

¹ Inflammation and Inflammatory Diseases Division, Immunology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
² Biotechnology Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
³ Blood Borne Infections Research Center, Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research (ACECR), Razavi Khorasan, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a retrovirus associated with two life-threatening diseases; HAM/TSP and ATLL. Due to the slow-growing HTLV-1 infection worldwide, WHO urged for elimination. A large border with Afghanistan, northeast Iran is an endemic region for HTLV-1 infection. Historically, Afghanistan has common sociocultural similarities to Persian peoples. This study was conducted to evaluate HTLV-1 prevalence in Afghan refugees. Also, the HTLV-1 transmission rate and understanding of whether or not the Silk Road has been the route of HTLV-1 infection to Iran were investigated. This case-control study was conducted in a rural area of Fariman city, with Afghan residents who migrated around 165 years ago, from 1857, the Treaty of Paris at the end of the Anglo-Persian war, and a refugee camp in Torbat-e-Jam city. These populations in HTLV-1 endemic area were compared to a segregated population of Afghan refugees in Semnan, the centre of Iran. Blood samples of 983 volunteers were assessed with the ELISA method for the presence of HTLV-1 antibodies and then confirmed by PCR technique. All samples from Afghan refugee camps, Semnan and Torbat-e-Jam, were negative for HTLV-1 infection. However, the prevalence of HTLV-1 infection in Fariman, a rural population of Afghan origin, was approximately 2.73%. The results showed that HTLV-1 is not endemic in Afghanistan, a war-stricken region with refugees distributed worldwide. The land Silk Road has not been the route of HTLV-1 transmission to Northeastern Iran. Importantly, HTLV-1 endemicity might occur during a long time of living in an endemic area.

Copyright: © 2023 Mahdifar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Grants and funding

This study was financially supported by the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Technology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran [grant no. MUMS 88259, recipient: SAR] and the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Technology, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran [grant no. SUMS 88259, recipient: MRAE. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.