RESUMEN
Concomitant strongyloidiasis and human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection has been reported from areas in Japan where both organisms are endemic. We present four cases of concomitant infection with these organisms from an area that is not endemic for Strongyloides stercoralis. Three of the four patients had adult T-cell leukemia, an aggressive neoplasm resulting from HTLV-I infection, while the other was an asymptomatic carrier of HTLV-I. Three of the patients had spent their childhoods in an endemic location for both organisms, suggesting an initial infection at that time. Three patients were symptomatic from their parasitism. We conclude that strongyloidiasis may be found in nonendemic locations in patients with either adult T-cell leukemia or an asymptomatic HTLV-I carrier state. Whether infestation with this parasite contributes to the leukemogenesis of HTLV-I, as postulated by others, cannot at this time be determined.
Asunto(s)
Infecciones por HTLV-I/complicaciones , Parasitosis Intestinales/complicaciones , Leucemia de Células T/complicaciones , Estrongiloidiasis/complicaciones , Anciano , Femenino , Infecciones por HTLV-I/epidemiología , Humanos , Japón , Leucemia de Células T/epidemiología , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Estrongiloidiasis/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
A seroepidemiologic survey for antibodies to the human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) was carried out in two Hawaiian hematologic-oncologic practices. Specimens of serum or plasma from 215 donors were assayed using the ELISA technique, followed by the Western blot technique to confirm antibody specificity to HTLV-I. Of 214 seropositive donors, 16 (7.5%) were positive. Of 172 donors of Japanese ancestry, 16 (9.3%) were seropositive; none were white, Chinese, Filipino, or Pacific Islander. One donor contracted the virus through blood transfusions. The results suggest that HTLV-I was introduced to Hawaii with the Japanese immigration.