[Vertical transmission of the human T-cell leukemia virus in an endemic area. An epidemiological study in children from 0 to 5 years in Gabon].

A seroepidemiological survey was conducted in a representative population of children aged 0-5 in Gabon. Breast-feeding appears to an important mode of HTLV vertical transmission. Owing to other epidemiological data in population of gabonese adults allow us to think that breast-feeding related transmission and sexual transmission seem to occur in equal proportion in the global HTLV transmission in that area of endemicity.