Seroprevalencia de HTLV-I/II y factores de riesgo asociados a la infección en la población de donantes de sangre de Córdoba, Argentina

In this study we have determined the seroprevalence of infections by HTLV-I/II the blood donor population from the city of Cordoba. A total of 5476 blood donor sera were screened for HTLV-I/II antibodies by particle agglutination assay (PA) (SERODIA HTLV-I, Fujirebio INC, Tokyo, Japan). The reactive sera samples were confirmed by an in house indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). 14 out of 5476 blood donors studied were PA reactive and were confirmed positive by IFA, showing a prevalence of 0.26% (95% confidence interval: 0.126%-0.394%). All the positive samples, except one, met the criteria for HTLV-I. Although one HTLV-I infected donor was an intravenous drug abuser and two donors were born highly endemic areas for HTLV-I, no specific risk factors were identified among the others. The demonstration that HTLV-I circulates blood donor population of Cordoba, points out that the systematic screening of blood for HTLV-I/II antibodies must be implemented the blood banks, an attempt to prevent the spread of infections with this oncogenic virus Argentina.