Seroepidemiology of human T-cell leukemia virus type-I in the Republic of Korea.

We investigated the prevalence of antibodies to human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) associated antigens in various patients and healthy individuals in the Republic of Korea. Seventeen out of 6,255 individuals (0.27%) were seropositive. The positive rate in males was 0.21% and that in females was 0.36%, the sex difference being similar to that in endemic areas in Japan. HTLV-I carriers were found in Seoul and neighboring areas, but not in Busan city or Jeju Island, which are adjacent to Kyushu, Japan. The prevalence of sera with definite anti HTLV-I antibodies seems to be very low in the Republic of Korea.