Seroprevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I among pregnant women in Accra, Ghana
| dc.contributor.author | Armah, H.B. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Narter-Olaga, E.G. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Adjei, A.A. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Asomaning, K. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Gyasi, R.K. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Tettey, Y. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2013-06-10T14:43:38Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-10-19T12:31:34Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2013-06-10T14:43:38Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-10-19T12:31:34Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2006 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Infection with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) occurs mainly in Japan, Central and West Africa and the Caribbean Basin. Although antibody to HTLV-I has been reported among pregnant women in several endemic countries, there is no information regarding the seroprevalence in pregnant Ghanaian women. The reported seroprevalence of HTLV-I among healthy Ghanaian blood donors is between 0.5 and 4.2 %. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of HTLV-I among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at the 37 Military Hospital, Accra, Ghana, between the months of January and December 2003. The presence of antibodies specific for HTLV-I/II was tested using a particle agglutination test (PAT) kit and confirmed by Western blotting (WB). Of the 960 sera tested, HTLV-I/II antibodies were detected in 24 samples using the PAT kit. WB results indicated that, of the 24 positive PAT specimens, 20 specimens (83.3 %) were HTLV-I positive, one (4.2 %) was HTLV-II positive, two (8.3 %) were HTLV positive and one (4.2 %) was indeterminate. Therefore, the overall seroprevalence of HTLV-I was 2.1 %. Seroprevalence increased with age, suggesting sexual contact as the primary mode of transmission among women of childbearing age, rather than breastfeeding during infancy. The seroprevalence of 2.1 % reported here for HTLV-I in pregnant women in Accra is comparable to that of human immunodeficiency virus among the same population. In conclusion, the results indicate that HTLV-I is prevalent among asymptomatic Ghanaian pregnant women and thus there is a need to consider introducing antenatal screening for HTLV-I in Ghana. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://197.255.68.203/handle/123456789/3006 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Journal of Medical Microbiology | en_US |
| dc.title | Seroprevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I among pregnant women in Accra, Ghana | en_US |
| dc.type | Article | en_US |