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. 2023 Dec 7:14:1277793.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1277793. eCollection 2023.

HTLV infection in persons with sexually transmitted diseases in Spain

Oskar Ayerdi  1 , Rafael Benito  2 , Diego Ortega  3 , Antonio Aguilera  4 , Natalia Montiel  5 , Ilduara Pintos  6 , Alberto Díaz de Santiago  6 , Begoña Baza  1 , Vicente Soriano  7 , Carmen de Mendoza  6
Affiliations

HTLV infection in persons with sexually transmitted diseases in Spain

Oskar Ayerdi et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Background: HTLV-1 infection is a neglected disease, despite estimates of 10 million people infected worldwide and producing life-threatening illnesses in 10% of carriers. Sexual transmission is the main route of contagion. However, HTLV-1 is not listed among sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Methods: Serum from all consecutive individuals who had attended six STI clinics across Spain during the last 12 months were tested for HTLV antibodies using a commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Reactive samples were confirmed by immunoblot.

Results: A total of 2,524 samples were examined. The majority (1,936; 76.7%) belonged to men, of whom 676 (34.9%) were men who have sex with men (MSM) receiving HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis. Although native Spaniards predominated (1,470; 58.2%), up to 593 (23.5%) came from Latin America and 139 (5.5%) were African. A total of 26 individuals were initially EIA reactive and immunoblot confirmed 5 as HTLV-1 and 7 as HTLV-2. All but one HTLV-1+ case came from Latin America. Three were men and two were women. Among Latin Americans, the HTLV-1 seroprevalence was 0.67%. In contrast, all seven HTLV-2+ were native Spaniards and former injection drug users, and all but one were HIV+.

Conclusion: The rate of HTLV infection among individuals with STIs in Spain is 0.5%, which is greater than in the general population. These results support the introduction of universal HTLV screening in persons who attend clinics for STIs.

Keywords: HIV; HTLV-1; sexually transmitted infections; syphilis; transmission.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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