Gb. Schreiber et al., RISK-FACTORS FOR HUMAN T-CELL LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS TYPE-I AND TYPE-II (HTLV-I AND HTLV-II) IN BLOOD-DONORS - THE RETROVIRUS EPIDEMIOLOGY DONOR STUDY, Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes and human retrovirology, 14(3), 1997, pp. 263-271
In the United States, blood donors have been routinely screened for hu
man T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) since 1988. HTLV-I and -II seropo
sitive blood donors have been identified through confirmatory testing
at five participating blood centers and frequency-matched seronegative
controls provided information on potential HTLV sociodemographic, par
enteral, and sexual risk factors during structured interviews. After a
djustment, low educational attainment; accidental needlesticks or cuts
; prior blood transfusion; greater than or equal to 7 sex partners; an
d a sex partner from an HTLV-I endemic area were significantly associa
ted with both HTLV-I and -II. Gender did not modify the odds ratios (O
R) in the final logistic regression models, despite apparent male-fema
le differences in gender-specific bivariable analysis. Injection drug
use (IDU) or having sex with an IDUs were significant risks for HTLV-I
I, but not for HTLV-I. The OR for donors who had IDU sex partners was
20.6 times higher than those who did not. For IDUs, the OR was increas
ed 10.5 times over nonusers. Abortion was a significant HTLV-II risk f
actor for women. Our findings indicate that IDU and sex with IDUs are
important risk factors for HTLV-II transmission, even among low-risk p
opulations such as blood donors.