• Márcia Poinho EncarnaçÃo de Morais, Cynara Melo Gato, Lucinei Alves Maciel, Pritesh Lalwani, Cristóvão Alves Costa, and Jaila Dias Borges Lalwani.
• Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Rev. Inst. Med. Trop. Sao Paulo. 2017 Dec 21; 59: e80.

IntroductionHuman T-lymphotropic virus type 1 and 2 (HTLV-1/2) is endemic in Brazil, but few studies have investigated the seroprevalence of HTLV and its subtypes among blood donors in the capital city Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil.AimTo estimate the seroprevalence of HTLV-1/2 and to identify circulating subtypes among blood donors in Manaus.Materials And MethodsBlood donors (2001-2003) were screened for HTLV-1/2 antibodies by ELISA. Positive results were confirmed and subtyped by Western blot assays. Prevalence rates were calculated and compared with demographic data.ResultsAmong the 87,402 individuals screened, 116 (0.13%) were seropositive for HTLV-1/2. A second sample (76/116) was collected and retested by HTLV-1/2 ELISA, of which only 41/76 were positive. Western blot confirmed HTLV infection in 24/41 retested blood donors [HTLV-1 (n=16), HTLV-2 (n=5) and HTLV-untypable (n=3)].DiscussionHTLV-1 and HTLV-2 are prevalent among blood donors in Manaus. However, additional studies are needed to comprehend the epidemiology of HTLV-1/2 in Amazonas not only to understand the pathophysiology of the disease providing adequate medical assistance, but also to reduce or block virus transmission.

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