Transmission of
HIV in many
Caribbean countries has followed the pattern of initial predominance among
homosexual and
bisexual male, with the
infection subsequently spreading into the
heterosexual community. However, on
Saint Lucia the
epidemic began among
heterosexual contacts of
Saint Lucia labourers from
Florida; in
Bermuda 58 percent of
AIDS cases have been in interavenous
drug abusers; and in the infected via the perinanatal route.
Seroprevalence of the
human T-lymphotropic
virus, type 1 (HTLV-), whose modes of
transmission resemble those of
HIV, has been found to range from 2.3 percent in
Trinidad and Tobago to 5.4 percent in
Jamaica. In a study of
HIV and
HTLV-1 infection patterns in homosexuals
males in
Trinidad and Tobago, the cohort was too small for confirmation that
coinfection with these two
viruses hastended progression to
AIDS, but further investigation is warranted. (AU)