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Oliviero E. Varnier, MD; Flavia Lillo, MD
Institute of Microbiology Genoa, Italy

Steve S. Alexander, PhD
Cambridge Biotech Corporation Rockville, Md

Richard M. Forbis, PhD
Dupont De Nemours Wilmington, Del William Present New York, NY

Adriano Lazzarin, MD
Institute of Infectious Diseases Milan, Italy

JAMA. 1991;265(5):597.

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

To the Editor. —

Over the last 5 years we have tested more than 3000 serum samples, collected from subjects at risk for retroviral infections, for the presence of antibodies to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-I).¹ Reactivity was observed in approximately 10% of samples using viral lysate-based assays, but HTLV-I seropositivity could not be confirmed by Western blot analysis. The immunoreactivity was limited to the gag-encoded p19 and p24 proteins with varying intensity of the bands. Following the US Public Health Service guidelines for HTLV-I seropositivity,² all these samples were classified as HTLV-I indeterminate.

We further investigated HTLV reactivity in 152 Italian intravenous drug addicts (IVDA) using synthetic antigens. All subjects were seropositive to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and attended a methadone maintenance clinic in the northwest district of Milan. Most had a history of sexual promiscuity, frequent needle sharing, and long-term drug addiction. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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