Seroepidemiology of human T‐lymphotropic virus type I infection among intravenous drug abusers in Taiwan

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Abstract
In order to assess seroprevalence of human T‐lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV‐I) infection among intravenous drug abusers in Taiwan, serum samples were collected from 858 male study subjects. Antibodies against HTLV‐I (anti‐HTLV‐l) in sera were tested by enzyme‐linked immu‐nosorbent assay and confirmed by Western blotting. The overall prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐l (2.3%) in drug abusers was significantly higher than that in the general population in Taiwan with a relative risk of 4.9, but it was only slightly higher than that in prostitutes (1.9%). There was a statistically significant increase in prevalence with age. Drug abusers engaged in prostitution had a significantly higher prevalence (18.2%) than those who were not (2.1%). No significant association with anti‐HTLV‐l positivity was observed with marital status and educational level. Tattooed abusers had an increased prevalence (2.7%) compared with the untattooed (1.4%). Drug abusers tattooed before 1980 had a significantly higher prevalence (3.5%) than those tattooed after 1980 (0.8%). Anti‐HTLV‐l prevalence was higher for those who had been blood transfused (4.5%) than untransfused abusers (2.0%).