Prevalence of HTLV-III/LAV in Household Contacts of Patients With Confirmed AIDS and Controls in Kinshasa, Zaire
- Jonathan M. Mann, MD, MPH;
- Thomas C. Quinn, MD;
- Henry Francis, MD;
- Nzila Nzilambi, MD;
- Ngaly Bosenge, MD;
- Kapita Bila, MD;
- Joseph B. McCormick, MD;
- Kalisa Ruti, MD;
- Pangu Kaza Asila, MD, MPH;
- James W. Curran, MD, MPH
- From the Project SIDA (Drs Mann, Francis, Nzilambi, and Bosenge), the Ministry of Health (Drs Ruti and Asila), and the Mama Yemo Hospital (Dr Bila), Kinshasa, Zaire, the AIDS Program (Drs Mann and Curran) and the Special Pathogens Branch Division of Viral Diseases (Dr McCormick), Center for Infectious Diseases Centers tor Disease Control, Atlanta; and the Laboratory of Immu noregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Md (Drs Quinn and Francis)
Abstract
Household members of 46 patients with confirmed acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and 43 human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus (HTLV-III/LAV)-seronegative controls from Kinshasa, Zaire, were identified and sought for serologic testing for evidence of HTLV-III/LAV infection. Twenty (9.8%) of 204 case-household members and three (1.9%) of 155 control-household members were HTLV-III/LAV seropositive (relative risk=5.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 15.2). Eleven (61.1%) of 18 spouses of patients with AIDS were HTLV-III/LAV seropositive, compared with one (3.7%) of 27 control spouses (relative risk=16.5; 95% confidence interval, 3.7 to 75.0). Except for spouses, the rate of HTLV-III/LAV seropositivity did not differ significantly between case and control households. Furthermore, for adults in case households who were not spouses, the number seropositive for HTLV-III/LAV was identical to that predicted from sex- and age-specific HTLV-III/LAV seroprevalence rates. These data from Zaire confirm the results of US and European studies of household contacts of infected hemophiliacs and pediatric patients with AIDS.
(JAMA 1986;256:721-724)
Footnotes
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Use of trade names is for identification only and does not constitute endorsement by the US Department of Health and Human Services or any of its agencies.
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Reprint requests to Centers for Disease Control, Bldg 6, Room 292, Atlanta, GA 30333 (Dr Curran)
