Seroprevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in Saudi Arabia

During the past 6 years, blood donors at various hospitals and blood banks in Saudi Arabia have been screened by enzyme immuno-assay for antibodies to human T-lymphotropic virus type I (anti-HTLV-I). Seropositivity for anti-HTLV-I, clearly confirmed by western blot, was only demonstrable in three out of the 34,541 subjects (including at least 21,000 Saudi nationals). The three positives were all expatriates: two Indians and one Syrian. Another six subjects, who gave ambiguous reactions on western blots and may also have been positive, were also all expatriates. Saudi Arabia therefore appears to be a non-endemic area for HTLV-I and hence the current practice of screening all blood donors for anti-HTLV-I does not seem to be cost-effective. An alternative strategy, in which only expatriate blood donors are screened, should perhaps be considered by the Saudi Ministry of Health.