NO PROOF OF HTLV-I II IN INTRAVENOUS DRUG-ABUSERS WITH A HIGH-RATE OFHIV-1 INFECTION IN CENTRAL THAILAND/

Serum specimens of 1,074 intravenous drug abusers (IVDA) were examined for infection with HIV-1, HTLV-I and HTLV-II in central Thailand, Thr ee hundred and sixty-two of the specimens were seropositive for HIV-1 (33.7%), The HIV-1 seropositive IVDAs exhibited increased seropositivi ty with age through group 40-44 and significantly decreased seropositi vity over the age of 45, In contrast, no seropositivity to either HTLV -I or -II was detected in the samples tested by a particle-agglutinati on assay for HTLV followed by type-specific Western blotting for HTLV. Reference to previous reports suggested that the rate of HIV infectio n in IVDAs has decreased with no HTLV-I or HTLV-II in Thailand when co mpared with that of the HIV infection in 1992.