Abstract | BACKGROUND: Retrovirus infections among injecting drug users (IDUs), a core at-risk population for both HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II infections in Brazil, were assessed within an ongoing cooperative research. OBJECTIVE: The study assessed the seroprevalences of HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II infections, as well as the prevalence of HIV-1 subtypes in a sample of IDUs from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. An attempt to evaluate HIV incidence was carried out using a dual 'sensitive/less sensitive' testing strategy. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional evaluation of 175 IDUs. Serostatus for HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II were established by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and confirmed by western blot. The dual testing strategy aimed to estimate HIV-1 incidence rates. Differentiation between HTLV-I and -II was performed by western blot. DNA samples were polymerase chain reaction amplified by a nested protocol, and HIV-1 subtyping was determined by heteroduplex mobility assay. RESULTS: Forty-six and 29 samples were found to be, respectively, positive for HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II, 15 of them co-infected by both viruses. Among HTLV-I/II-infected patients, 75.9% were infected by HTLV-I. Thirty-one HIV samples were identified as B subtype, with seven of them showing the typical "Brazilian B" pattern in the gp120 V3 loop, and ten were identified as F subtype. The use of less sensitive assays for HIV infection wrongly identified a deeply immunocompromised patient as an incident case. CONCLUSION: Moderately high seroprevalences were found for both HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II infections, HIV-1/HTLV-I co-infections being of special concern. A non-statistically significant higher prevalence of F subtype was observed, when compared with the distribution of F/B subtypes among Brazilian patients from other exposure categories. No recent HIV-1 infections were detected, but a limitation of the "sensitive/less-sensitive" testing strategy was made evident.
|
Authors | M L Guimarães, F I Bastos, P R Telles, B Galvão-Castro, R S Diaz, V Bongertz, M G Morgado |
Journal | Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology
(J Clin Virol)
Vol. 21
Issue 2
Pg. 143-51
(May 2001)
ISSN: 1386-6532 [Print] Netherlands |
PMID | 11378495
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
|
Topics |
- Adult
- Brazil
(epidemiology)
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- Female
- HIV Infections
(complications, epidemiology, virology)
- HIV Seroprevalence
- HIV-1
(classification)
- HTLV-I Infections
(complications, epidemiology)
- HTLV-II Infections
(complications, epidemiology)
- Humans
- Incidence
- Male
- Substance Abuse, Intravenous
(complications)
|