Article
Mother-to-Child Transmission of Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Viruses-1/2: What We Know, and What Are the Gaps in Understanding and Preventing This Route of Infection
Registro en:
PROIETTI , Anna Barbara de Freitas Carneiro et al. Mother-to-Child Transmission of Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Viruses-1/2: What We Know, and What Are the Gaps in Understanding and Preventing This Route of Infection. J Ped Infect Dis, vol. 3, supl. 1, p. S24-S29, 2014
0891-3668
Autor
Proietti, Anna Barbara de Freitas Carneiro
Damasio, M. S. Amaranto
Horiguch, Cláudia Leal Ferreira
Bastos, Rafael Henrique Campolina
Freitas, Gabriela Seabra
Reiss, Débora Borowiak
Ribeiro, Maisa Aparecida
Proietti, Fernando Augusto
Ferreira, Anísia da SD
Martins, Marina Lobato
Resumen
Although human T-cell lymphotropic viruses (HTLV-1/2) were described over 30 years ago, they are relatively unknown to the public and even to healthcare personnel. Although HTLV-1 is associated with severe illnesses, these occur in only approximately 10% of infected individuals, which may explain the lack of public knowledge about them. However, cohort studies are showing that a myriad of other disease manifestations may trouble infected individuals and cause higher expenditures with healthcare. Testing donated blood for HTLV-1/2 started soon after reliable tests were developed, but unfortunately testing is not available for women during prenatal care. Vertical transmission can occur before or after birth of the child. Before birth, it occurs transplacentally or by transfer of virus during cesarean delivery, but these routes of infection are rare. After childbirth, viral transmission occurs during breastfeeding and increases with longer breastfeeding and high maternal proviral load. Unlike the human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2, HTLV is transmitted primarily through breastfeeding and not transplacentally or during delivery. In this study, we review what is currently known about HTLV maternal transmission, its prevention, and the gaps still present in the understanding of this process.