Evaluating the Prevalence of Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus in Blood Donors and Thalassemia and Hemophilia Patients in Rafsanjan and Jiroft Cities of Kerman Province, Iran

Human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV) is a member of the retroviridae family that can be transmitted through infected lymphocytes, sex, blood transfusion, and organ transplantation as well as from mother to child by breastfeeding. It is estimated that nearly 15-20 million people have been infected with the virus worldwide. HTLV can cause malignant diseases such as adult T-cell leukemia (ATL), inflammatory diseases such as uveitis, HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), alveolitis, and infectious dermatitis. Iran is considered to be the country most infected with HTLV in Asia, after Japan. This study aimed to evaluate the serological prevalence of HTLV 1/2 infection in blood donors and thalassemia major and hemophilic patients in Rafsanjan and Jiroft cities of Kerman province. Sera were collected from 100 blood donors, 60 thalassemia major patients, and six hemophilic patients and tested for the presence of HTLV1/2 specific antibody using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and confirmed with Western blot and (real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) qRT-PCR techniques. The results of the ELISA test for Rafsanjan and Jiroft blood donors, as well as thalassemia and hemophilic patients in Rafsanjan, were negative but among thalassemia major patients of Jiroft, there was one positive case.  The results of Western blot and qRT-PCR tests were also positive. The number of provirus copies was, 3140750 per ml of the sample. Based on the findings of this study, the Kerman province is important in terms of the spread of the HTLV virus. According to the identification of infection in thalassemia patients in this province, it is recommended to investigate the incidence of this infection in other high-risk populations in this region.