Retroviruses in the Caribbean

ABSTRACT

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)