Evidence of the Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV-I) Circulation in Santiago De Cuba Province (Cuba)

Evidence of the Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV-I) Circulation in Santiago De Cuba Province (Cuba)

Human adult T-cell leukaemia and the HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis constitute the indicative main disease of the HTLV-I virus circulation in endemic areas. The objective of this work was to confirm the existence or not of the HTLVI infection in Santiago de Cuba Province where there have not been reported any HTLV seropositive persons up to the present. We studied 1548 sera samples: 1436 blood donors, 35 transfused patients and 77 persons with clinical symptoms associated to this virus. We used enzyme-linked immunosorbent (EIA) and Western blot assays (DAVIH-BLOT HTLV-I (DAVIH Laboratories, Cuba) to detect and confirm the HTLV-I-specific antibodies.