Abstract
Patients and members of staff from a haemodialysis unit were tested for markers of infection with human T cell lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III), the virus associated with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay showed eight of 100 patients to have antibodies to HTLV-III. In five of these patients past or present infection with HTLV-III was confirmed by Western blot analysis or detection of HTLV-III antigens in lymphocyte cultures, or both. Investigation of other risk factors for AIDS showed that the putative source of HTLV-III was unrelated to dialysis in two patients whereas blood transfusion was the most likely cause of contamination in the others. No member of staff gave a positive result in the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Nosocomial transmission of HTLV-III seems unlikely if precautions similar to those recommended for the control of hepatitis B infection are applied.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Eyster M. E., Goedert J. J., Sarngadharan M. G., Weiss S. H., Gallo R. C., Blattner W. A. Development and early natural history of HTLV-III antibodies in persons with hemophilia. JAMA. 1985 Apr 19;253(15):2219–2223. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Favero M. S. Recommended precautions for patients undergoing hemodialysis who have AIDS or non-A, non-B hepatitis. Infect Control. 1985 Aug;6(8):301–305. doi: 10.1017/s0195941700063141. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Feorino P. M., Jaffe H. W., Palmer E., Peterman T. A., Francis D. P., Kalyanaraman V. S., Weinstein R. A., Stoneburner R. L., Alexander W. J., Raevsky C. Transfusion-associated acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Evidence for persistent infection in blood donors. N Engl J Med. 1985 May 16;312(20):1293–1296. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198505163122005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Neumayer H. H., Wagner K., Kresse S. HTLV-III antibodies in patients with kidney transplants or on haemodialysis. Lancet. 1986 Mar 1;1(8479):497–497. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)92948-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]