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New Risks for Recipients of Blood Transfusions?

S. Gerald Sandler, MD

JAMA. 1986;256(16):2245-2246.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In the June 13 issue of THE JOURNAL, M. Robert-Guroff et al¹ reported antibody prevalences of 9% for human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) type I, 18% for HTLV-II, and 41% for HTLV-III in drug abusers in New York. Of concern is the known association of HTLV-I and adult T-cell leukemia (ATL), raising the possibility that this report of serological findings may be the forewarning of serious clinical events yet to come.

Although HTLV-I is endemic in some areas of Japan, the Caribbean, and Africa, both HTLV-I infection and ATL are rare in the United States.^2,3 In Kyushu, an endemic area in Japan, a recent study revealed that 100% of 18 patients with ATL had HTLV-I antibodies, compared with 16% HTLV-I seropositivity in 604 apparently healthy adults.² Other studies of healthy populations in Japan indicate that high rates of HTLV-I infection are restricted geographically, with prevalences ranging from . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
American Red Cross Washington, DC

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