@article {1550, title = {Infection with human T lymphotropic virus type I in organ transplant donors and recipients in Spain}, journal = {J Med Virol}, volume = {76}, year = {2005}, note = {Toro, Carlos Benito, Rafael Aguilera, Antonio Bassani, Sylvina Rodriguez, Carmen Calderon, Enrique Caballero, Estrella Alvarez, Patricia Garcia, Juan Rodriguez-Iglesias, Manuel Guelar, Ana del Romero, Jorge Soriano, Vincent HTLV Spanish Study Group Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov{\textquoteright}t United States Journal of medical virology J Med Virol. 2005 Jun;76(2):268-70.}, month = {Jun}, pages = {268 - 70}, edition = {38461}, abstract = {Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) antibody screening is not recommended uniformly before transplantation in Western countries. In the year 2001, the first cases of HTLV-I infection acquired through organ transplantation from one asymptomatic carrier were reported in Europe. All three organ recipients developed a subacute myelopathy shortly after transplantation. This report rose the question about whether to implement universal anti-HTLV screening of all organ donors or selective screening of donors from endemic areas for HTLV-I infection should be carried out. A national survey was conducted thereafter in which anti-HTLV antibodies were tested in 1,298 organ transplant donors and 493 potential recipients. None was seropositive for HTLV-I and only one recipient, a former intravenous (i.v.) drug user, was found to be infected with HTLV-II. In a different survey, HTLV screening was conducted in 1,079 immigrants and 5 (0.5\%) were found to be asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers. All came from endemic areas for HTLV-I infection. No cases of HTLV-II infection were found among immigrants. These results support the current policy of mandatory testing of anti-HTLV antibodies in Spain only among organ transplant donors coming from HTLV-I endemic areas or with a highly suspicion of HTLV-I infection.}, keywords = {*Tissue Donors, *Transplantation, HTLV-I Antibodies / blood, HTLV-I Infections / *epidemiology, Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / *classification / immunology / *isolation \&, Humans, purification, Seroepidemiologic Studies, Spain / epidemiology}, issn = {0146-6615 (Print) 0146-6615 (Linking)}, doi = {10.1002/jmv.20331}, author = {Toro,C. and Benito,R. and Aguilera,A. and Bassani,S. and Rodriguez,C. and Calderon,E. and Caballero,E. and Alvarez,P. and Garcia,J. and Rodriguez-Iglesias,M. and Guelar,A. and del Romero,J. and Soriano,V.} }