AI Article Synopsis
- - The study reviews the prevalence of Human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLV) among pregnant women in Central and South America and the Caribbean, finding a significant lack of screening programs in both endemic regions and Western countries with migrant populations.
- - A systematic analysis of 620 studies led to the inclusion of 41, revealing a pooled HTLV-1/2 infection rate of 1.3% among 343,707 participants, with most infections being HTLV-1 and high variance in data.
- - The findings suggest that HTLV-1/2 testing should be made mandatory for pregnant women in the region since its prevalence is higher than that of other routinely screened infections like HIV and hepatitis B.
Article Abstract
Background: Human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLV)-1 infection is endemic in many countries of Central and South America and Caribbean (CSA&C). Neither screening nor surveillance programs exist for HTLV-1/2 infection among pregnant women in this region. Neither in Western nations with large migrant flows from HTLV-1/2 endemic regions.
Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of HTLV-1/2 infection among CSA&C pregnant women. We included studies searching EMBASE, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception to February 15, 2023. This systematic review followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses reporting guidelines.
Results: We identified a total of 620 studies. Only 41 were finally included in the meta-analysis. Most studies (61.0%) were from Brazil and Peru (14.6%). The total number of participants was 343,707. The pooled prevalence of HTLV-1/2 infection among CSA&C pregnant women was 1.30% (95% CI: 0.96-1.69) using anti-HTLV-1/2 antibody screening tests. There was a high heterogeneity (I = 98.6%). Confirmatory tests gave an HTLV-1 infection rate of 1.02% (95% CI: 0.75-1.33).
Conclusions: The prevalence of HTLV-1/2 infection among CSA&C pregnant women is 1.3%, most cases being HTLV-1. This rate is greater than for other microbial agents regularly checked as part of antenatal screening (such as HIV, hepatitis B, or syphilis). Thus, HTLV-1/2 antenatal testing should be mandatory among CSA&C pregnant women everywhere.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2024.107018 | DOI Listing |
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