TABLE 1.
Characteristics of the study groups whose serum samples were analyzed for the presence of HTLV-1/2 antibodies and results of HTLV-1/2 screening and Western blot confirmatory assays
| Groupa | Study population | No. of individuals | No. of samples | % of samples | Age (yr) |
No. of screen-positive samplesb | No. of WB-positive samples |
No. of WB-inconclusive samples |
% WB-inconclusive samplesc |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | Min–max | HTLV-1 | HTLV-2 | HTLV | IND | HTLV | IND | ||||||
| G1 | HIV | 4,395 | 311 | 97 | 65 | 16 | 66 | 5.14 | 21.22 | ||||
| Male | 2,935 | 66.78 | 39.12 | 16–84 | |||||||||
| Female | 1,459 | 33.20 | 40.36 | 16–83 | |||||||||
| Total | 4,395 | 100 | 39.74 | 16–84 | |||||||||
| G2 | HBV/HCV | 3,228 | 99 | 45 | 29 | 3 | 21 | 3.03 | 21.21 | ||||
| Male | 1,749 | 54.18 | 48.40 | 14–88 | |||||||||
| Female | 1,479 | 45.82 | 48.50 | 13–94 | |||||||||
| Total | 3,228 | 100 | 48.70 | 13–94 | |||||||||
| G3d | Monoinfection | 362 | 207 | 127e | 36e | 11 | 27 | 5.31 | 13.04 | ||||
| Male | 105 | 29.01 | 39.00 | 24–60 | |||||||||
| Female | 257 | 70.99 | 42.20 | 16–73 | |||||||||
| Total | 362 | 100 | 41.04 | 16–73 | |||||||||
a
G1, group of HIV/AIDS patients from São Paulo, SP, Brazil; G2, group of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) from São Paulo, SP; G3, group of individuals from HTLV outpatient clinics in Salvador, BA, Brazil.
b
Screening assays as described in Materials and Methods.
c
Western blot results according to the manufacturer’s criteria for HTLV Blot 2.4 (MP Biomedicals). IND, indeterminate.
d
Age data obtained only from patients with WB-inconclusive results.
e
Five samples were positive for both HTLV-1 and HTLV-2.