Spread Of Human T-Cell Leukemia-Virus (Htlv-I) In The Dutch Homosexual Community

AbstractSequential sera of 697 homosexual men, participating in a prospective study (1984–1986) of the risk to acquire human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or AIDS, were tested for antibodies to human T‐cell leukaemia virus (HTLV‐I) by particle agglutination and immunoblotting. No intravenous drug users were included in this trial. Three men (0.4%) were HTLV‐I antibody positive at intake and an additional 2 at the end of the observation period, resulting in an attack rate of approximately 0.3%. One of the 3 men with HTLV‐I antibodies at intake was a Brazilian. One man had an acute HTLV‐I infection after sexual intercourse with a Brazilian during holiday in Brazil. No serological cross‐reactivity with HIV was observed nor a relationship with other sexually transmissible viral or bacterial infections. In contrast to HIV no relationship with anogenital intercourse was noted; both primary HTLV‐I infected men practiced only orogenital intercourse. This suggests that HTLV‐I was imported in the Dutch homosexual community after HIV was introduced in the Netherlands. HTLV‐I appears to spread slower within the homosexual community than HIV and possibly by other routes.