Prevalence and risk factor analysis for HIV/HTLV 1/2 coinfection in Paraíba state, Brazil.
INTRODUCTION
Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) 1 and 2 infections can lead to neurological diseases, mainly in HIV/HTLV 1 coinfected. Furthermore, HTLV 1 infection in HIV/AIDS patients has also been associated with AIDS progression. Despite this, HTLV 1/2 infections are not of mandatory notification in Brazil. Here, we describe the prevalence of HTLV 1/2 in HIV/AIDS patients from Paraíba state, Brazil, as well as the sociodemographic characteristics of the coinfected individuals.


METHODOLOGY
Information about HIV viral load and TCD4 lymphocyte count were obtained from patients' records. Data on the patients' sociodemographic characteristics were obtained by interview conducted after signing the informed consent form. The serological diagnosis for HTLV 1/2 was performed by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Western Blot (WB).


RESULTS
A total of 401 HIV/AIDS patients participated in the study, of whom about 1.5% (6/401) were positive for antibodies against HTLV, specifically for HTLV 1, evaluated by both ELISA and WB. No risk factors were found associated with HIV/HTLV 1/2 coinfection.


CONCLUSIONS
We report a 1.5% prevalence of HTLV 1 infection in HIV/AIDS patients from Paraíba state. Although we have not identified risk factors associated with HTLV 1, we describe the most observed sociodemographic characteristics in HIV/HTLV 1 coinfection.
['Santos de Souza|Marcela|M|', 'Prado Gonçales|Juliana|J|', 'Santos deMorais|Viviane Martha|VM|', 'Silva Júnior|José Valter Joaquim|JVJ|', 'Lopes|Thaísa Regina Rocha|TRR|', 'Costa|Joanne Elizabeth Ferraz da|JEFD|', 'Côelho|Maria Rosângela Cunha Duarte|MRCD|']
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