THE PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODY TO HTLV-I/II IN UNITED-STATES PLASMA DONORS AND IN UNITED-STATES AND FRENCH HEMOPHILIACS

Antibody to HTLV‐I/II was detected in 19 (0.3%) of 6286 plasma donors from five regions of the United States (US). This seroprevalence rate is approximately 10 times that in whole blood donors. The regional distribution of infection was as follows: Southwest, 0.68 percent; Southeast, 0.45 percent; Midwest, 0.28 percent; Northwest, 0.1 percent; and Northeast, 0.0 percent. Rates of HTLV‐I/II infection in blacks (0.74%) and Hispanics (0.66%) were higher (both, p less than 0.001) than those in whites (0.08%). All 19 infected units were donated by subjects aged 30 or older, even though 52.9 percent of the donations came from persons less than 30 years old. Equal rates of HTLV‐I/II infection were found in men (0.31%) and women (0.29%). No HTLV‐I/II antibody was detected in 154 French and 25 US hemophiliacs who were transfused regularly with noninactivated plasma or its derivatives. This suggests that the transfusion of HTLV‐I/II‐seropositive plasma products does not transmit the viral infection. 1990 AABB