Seroprevalence of HTLV-1/2 infection among native and immigrant pregnant women in Spain.

HTLV-1=2 antenatal screening is not mandatory in European countries. The rapid increase in immigrants coming from areas endemic for HTLV-1 infection has compelled a review of this policy in Spain. From February 2006 to December 2007, a cross-sectional study was carried out in all pregnant women attended at 10 different Spanish hospitals.

Hospital-based surveillance for HTLV-1/2 infections in Spain.

In Western countries, HTLV-1 infection is recognized mainly among foreigners coming from endemic areas. In contrast, HTLV-2 is found predominantly in native intravenous drug users (IDUs). Spain has experienced a large wave of immigration, which could have influenced the current prevalence and distribution of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 infection.

Epidemiological, biological and histological characterization of patients with indeterminate third-generation recombinant immunoblot assay antibody results for hepatitis C virus.

We studied the epidemiological, laboratory and histological characteristics of a group of patients with positive antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV) as determined by third-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and with indeterminate HCV antibody positivity as established by third-generation recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA-3). The results obtained were compared with those recorded in a group of RIBA-3-positive patients. Both groups correspond to blood donors in whom the prevalence of hepatitis C is low.

Resistance to nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors and prevalence of HIV type 1 non-B subtypes are increasing among persons with recent infection in Spain.

The prevalence of drug resistance mutations was 12.1% among 198 persons who experienced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroconversion identified in Spain during 1997-2004. There was a significant increase of K103N and of non-B subtypes over time.

Molecular epidemiology of HTLV-2 infection among intravenous drug users in Spain.

Background: HTLV-2 infection is prevalent among intravenous drug users (IDUs), which often are coinfected with HIV-1. Two main subtypes, HTLV-2a and -2b, have been described among European IDUs, with a characteristically geographic distribution: IIa in northern Europe and IIb in the south. Although frequent traveling within Europe might have favoured a wide dissemination of diverse HTLV-2 variants, HTLV-2b was so far the only subtype reported in Spain.