Prevalence ratio of HTLV-1 in nursing mothers from the state of Paraiba, Northeastern Brazil.

The human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was the first human retrovirus known as a direct causal agent of a malignant disease. The vertical route of HTLV transmission is the most frequent pathway of the virus contamination. This study was performed to determine the prevalence ratio of HTLV-1 infection among nursing women.