Abstract
Human T-cell lymphtropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is associated with certain hematologic
and neurologic disorders. Seroprevalence studies demonstrated that the distribution
of HTLV-I is heterogeneous worldwide and not specific to 1 region. Because blood is
one of the major routes of transmission of the virus, blood banks of several countries
routinely screen all blood donations for HTLV-I. The aim of the present study was
to assess the seroprevalence rate of HTLV-I/II antibodies among Lebanese blood donors.
Between August 2001 and March 2002, consecutive blood samples of 3529 blood donors
were collected at blood banks of 4 major hospitals in Lebanon. Initial enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA) screening resulted in 23 (0.7%) positive samples, of which
12 (0.3%) were reconfirmed positive by ELISA. Further analysis by Western blot resulted
in 2 (0.06%) positive samples, of which 1 tested positive for HTLV-I by PCR (0.028%).
Although its very low prevalence among Lebanese blood donors does not support routine
screening of Lebanese blood donors for HTLV-I, screening of blood donors from other
nationalities may be exercised, especially those from HTLV-I endemic areas.
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Article info
Publication history
Beirut, Manama, Tyr, Tripoli, and Sidon, Lebanon
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
