Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital General Universitario de Elche, Alicante, Spain.
J Clin Virol. 2011 Jul;51(3):192-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2011.04.004. Epub 2011 May 13.
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.
To determine the prevalence of HTLV infections in immigrant pregnant women attended in a general Hospital in the Mediterranean coast of Spain.
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.
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.
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.
在欧洲国家，普遍的 HTLV 产前筛查目前并非强制性的。然而，来自 HTLV-I 流行地区的大量移民可能会迫使我们在不久的将来改变这一建议。
确定在西班牙地中海沿岸的一家综合医院就诊的移民孕妇中 HTLV 感染的流行率。
从 2006 年 2 月至 2009 年 12 月，对在西班牙埃尔切的一家参考产科单位就诊的所有移民孕妇进行了一项横断面研究。使用酶联免疫吸附试验（EIA）检测血清中的 HTLV-I/II 抗体，对反应性样本进一步用 Western blot 确认。
共检查了 1439 名移民孕妇。总体而言，520 名（36.1%）来自中美洲和南美洲，90 名（6.2%）来自撒哈拉以南非洲，这些地区是 HTLV 感染的流行区。有 3 个样本的 EIA 对 HTLV-1/2 呈反应性。其中一个是来自巴西的感染 HTLV-I 的妇女，另外两个是来自玻利维亚和哥伦比亚的感染 HTLV-II 的妇女。因此，研究人群的总 HTLV 血清流行率为每 1000 人 2.1 例（95%CI：0.5-6.6/1000），尽管在来自中美洲和南美洲的妇女亚组中达到了 0.58%。
应考虑对来自中美洲和南美洲的孕妇进行 HTLV 产前筛查，因为这些地区感染的患病率相对较高，避免母乳喂养可以有效预防垂直 HTLV 传播。
