Jump to ContentJump to Main Navigation
Oxford Textbook of Medicine$
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content.
Oxford Textbook of Medicine (5 ed.)

Edited by David A. Warrell, Timothy M. Cox, John D. Firth

Online access to the Oxford Textbook of Medicine in low and middle income countries is available through the World Health Organization-led HINARI Access to Research in Health programme. 

Latest update

The May 2013 update sees updates to chapters focusing on Respiratory Medicine and Haematology.

Respiratory Medicine updates include substantial updates to key chapters and new material on a wide range of topics including: new bronchoscopic techniques for early detection of lung cancer, specific causes of effusion and pleural disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Haematology updates include extensive revisions of key chapters on chronic myeloid leukaemia, aplastic anaemia and bone marrow failure disorders, and blood transfusion, with new information on a wide range of matters.

Access token activation

If you have an access token, please click here to activate it.

Sign up for an individual subscription to the Oxford Textbook of Medicine.

Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Print Publication Date:
May 2010
Print ISBN-13:
9780199204854
Published to Oxford Medicine:
May 2010
DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199204854.001.1

Subscriber Login

Forgotten your password?

Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

Contents

HTLV-1, HTLV-2, and associated diseases

Chapter:
HTLV-1, HTLV-2, and associated diseases
Author(s):

Kristien Verdonck,

Eduardo Gotuzzo

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199204854.003.070525_update_001

Update:

More emphasis on infectious complications of HTLV-1; additional detail of occurrence and disease outcomes of HTLV-2.

Addition of recent information on HTLV-1 receptor, virological synapse, the regulatory protein HBZ, and FoxP3+CD4+ T cells.

Discussion on reliability of prevalence estimates.

Particle agglutination tests have gone out of use and are no longer mentioned.

The proposal of a fifth category of ATL has not been adopted widely and is no longer mentioned.

Addition of bronchiectasis to table.

Addition of potential treatment strategies proposed in the literature.

Enhanced discussion of infectious complications and non-HAM/TSP inflammatory conditions.

More detail on HTLV-2 disease outcomes.

Recent references have been added.

Updated on 31 May 2012. The previous version of this content can be found here.

Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV)-1 and HTLV-2 belong to the genus Deltaretrovirus of the family Retroviridae. They only infect humans, produce a lifelong infection, and can be transmitted from mother to child, through sexual intercourse, and via cellular blood components. Both viruses are present in all continents. The highest HTLV-1 prevalence in the general population (10%) has been found in southern Japan. There are endemic foci of HTLV-2 among native Amerindians and Central African pygmy tribes. HTLV-2 is also frequent among injecting drug users. It is unclear why some infected people develop associated diseases while others remain asymptomatic.

Clinical features—(1) HTLV-1—up to 10% of carriers develop clinical manifestations, including adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma, HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis, and infectious diseases such as strongyloidiasis, scabies, and tuberculosis. (2) HTLV-2—causes a milder form of HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis, arthritis, bronchitis, and pneumonia.

Diagnosis and prevention—HTLV enzyme immunosorbent assays are used for screening, followed by confirmatory testing of positive results. Mother-to-child transmission of HTLV-1 can be reduced by avoiding breast-feeding; condom use protects against sexually transmitted infection; screening of blood donors is performed in many countries. No vaccine is available and there are no effective antiviral drugs.

Oxford Medicine requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.

Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.

To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.