Seroprevalence of HTLV-1 in chronic disease patients in Jamaica

A high seropositivity rate of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection was found in Jamaican patients with chronic diseases. However, except for tropical spastic paraparesis, polymyositis, adult T cell leukaemia/lymphoma and polyneuropathies of undetermined cause, HTLV-1 seropositivity rates in chronic disease patients were not significantly different from that found in healthy Jamaicans. These results indicate that there is no increased risk of HTLV-1 infection or HTLV-1 associated disease in patients with chronic diseases compared to the general Jamaican population. The association of unclassified polyneuropathies with HTLV-1 reported herein is a novel one which requires further studies to elucidate its nature.