RESUMO
One-hundred seven consecutive patients attending a New York Hansen's disease clinic from November 1990 through June 1991 were tested for retroviruses. This cohort included 58 patients diagnosed with Hansen's disease after the onset of the AIDS epidemic, 54 of whom immigrated to the United States before diagnosis of Hansen's disease (median, 7 years). The overall rate (1.9%) of human T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) type I infection was low. Two (3.6%) of 55 Caribbean-born patients had polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-documented HTLV-I infection, but this incidence was not higher than expected in persons without Hansen's disease. No patient had PCR-documented evidence of either HTLV-II or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 infection. The low rate of HIV-1 among those studied was likely related to an absence of classic HIV risk behavior because about half of the cohort could have incubated Mycobacterium leprae for a prolonged period while infected with HIV-1.