Clinical associations of human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 infection in an Indigenous Australian population

Clinical associations of human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 infection in an Indigenous Australian population Journal Article

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

• Author(s): Einsiedel, Lloyd, Spelman, Tim, Goeman, Emma, Cassar, Olivier, Arundell, Mick, Gessain, Antoine
• Published: 2014
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Volume: 8

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Abstract: The Human T-Lymphotropic Virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infects at least 5–10 million people worldwide. In developed countries, the most frequently reported HTLV-1 associated diseases include a fatal hematological malignancy, Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (ATLL), and the neurological disorder, HTLV-1 associated myelopathy (HAM), which arise in <10% of HTLV-1 carriers during their lifetime. However, most HTLV-1 carriers live in resource-poor areas where infectious diseases, such as strongyloidiasis, could be more important causes of morbidity. Demonstrating such an effect is difficult due to the resource constraints experienced by developing countries in which populations with a substantial burden of infectious diseases reside in areas that are highly endemic for HTLV-1. This is not the case in HTLV-1 endemic central Australia where Indigenous Australians have, for example, among the highest reported blood stream infection rates worldwide in a setting in which sophisticated medical facilities are readily available. We report that bronchiectasis, blood stream infections and admissions with lower respiratory tract infections and strongyloidiasis are associated with HTLV-1 infection. These conditions were far more common than HTLV-1 associated malignancies or neurological conditions in this socially disadvantaged Indigenous population. The spectrum of HTLV-1 related diseases therefore varies according to the social circumstances of the affected population.

• Urls: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002643