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Updated: May 12, 2026
Ex Vivo Infection of Human Lymphoid Tissue and Female Genital Mucosa with Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 and Histoculture
Published on: October 12, 2018
[Human T-lymphotropic virus I/II detection in Chilean patients from Sexually Transmitted Diseases clinics]
David Sanhueza1, Eugenio Ramírez, Nelson Navarrete
1Programa de Virología, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Chile.
Background:
The human T-lymphotropic virus I (HTLV-I) causes spastic para-paresis and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. It can be sexually transmitted and is highly prevalent in Central and South America.
Aim:
To study HTLV-I/IIprevalence in serum samples obtained from two Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) clinics.
Material And Methods:
Two hundred serum samples were randomly chosen from two reference STD centers of Santiago. The presence of specific HTLV I/II antibodies was detected by indirect immunofluorescence.
Results:
The analyzed samples came from participants aged 14 to 70 years. Forty nine percent were women and 76% were heterosexual. Only one of the 200 samples was positive (0.5%) and it came from a 70 year-old woman, housewife, with a stable single partner, a history of recurrent genital ulcers, VDRL (-) and positive serology for herpes simplex virus.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of HTLV-I found in this group is similar to that demonstrated in other populations in Chile, except for aboriginal populations, and similar to international STD studies. Our data is consistent with the low transmissibility by sexual contact.
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