SEROPREVALENCE OF HUMAN T-CELL LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS TYPE-II INFECTION, WITH OR WITHOUT HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 COINFECTION, AMONGUS INTRAVENOUS-DRUG-USERS

Seroprevalence of human T lymphotropic virus (HTLV) and human immunode ficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) was determined among 7841 intravenous dr ug users (IVDUs) from drug treatment centers in Baltimore, Chicago, Lo s Angeles, New Jersey (Asbury Park and Trenton), New York City (Brookl yn and Harlem), Philadelphia, and San Antonio, Texas; 20.9% had eviden ce of HTLV infection, as determined using a p21e EIA for screening and p21e blot for confirmation. With a type-specific EIA and blot used in combination, HTLV-II was identified in 97.6% of HTLV-positive TVDUs w hose sera could be subtyped, HIV-1 seroprevalence was 13.2%, HTLV-II w ithout HIV-1 was most common in Los Angeles and San Antonio, HIV-1 wit hout HTLV-II was most common in New York, New Jersey, and Baltimore. D ual infection was most common in New York and New Jersey. Logistic reg ression analysis revealed that seroprevalence of HTLV-II was significa ntly greater with HIV-1 infection and increasing age and among women, blacks, and Mexican-Americans. In conclusion, it appears that among US IVDUs, nearly all HTLV infection is attributable to HTLV-II, and HTLV -II infection is associated with HIV-1 and sociodemographic background .