TITLE:
Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV-1) Infection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Review of a Forgotten Epidemic
AUTHORS:
Jean Yves D. Kabasele, Idris M. Mwanaut, Divine Chuga, Médard O. Okonda, Christian K. Thsibumbu, Ludovic Ilombe, Simplice K. Makoka, Cagod I. Basele, Elvis T. Kateba, Ben I. Bulanda, Berry I. Bongenya, Erick N. Kamangu
KEYWORDS:
HTLV, Infection, Epidemiology, Democratic Republic of the Congo
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.9 No.4,
April
18,
2022
ABSTRACT: Background: The distribution of HTLV affects nearly 7 million people around the world. The prevalence of this infection varies among different geographic regions as well as populations. Objective: The objective of this review was to present the epidemiological data on HTLV infection in the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo. Method: This review consisted of cataloging various studies, published articles and summaries presented in scientific conferences having as a subject of interest the epidemiology of HTLV in the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo (DRC). The search was done using MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase (Via Ovid), Cochrane, Google scholar, and POPLINE. To identify the articles from the different sources, the search was carried out using the following keywords: “HTLV, HTLV Infection, HTLV Epidemiology, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic ofthe Congo”. Publications were selected according to the relevance of the methodology as well as the results and the representativeness of the samples. Results: In 1990, Kayembe K. et al. conducted a study in the city of Lisala on 32 patients screened for chronic symmetrical spastic paraparesis of which 25 (96%) had anti-HTLV-1 markers in their serum. Goubau P. et al. had 102 sera samples collected in 1970 from a population of Bambuti pygmies in Zaire, 14 (13.7%) were positive for HTLV-2. Jeannel D. et al. conducted a study in Inongo in 1990 on 1162 patients, 36 (3.1%) were positive for anti-HTLV-1 markers. In the same year, Moulia-Pelat J.P. et al. conducted 2 studies, one on 230 Pygmies and the other on 680 Bantu, the prevalence of HTLV markers was 8.3% and 5.5% in Pygmies and Bantu respectively. In another study carried out by Goubau P. et al. in 1993, the prevalence of HTLV varied between 1% among pregnant women in Kinshasa and 15% among blood donors in Basankusu in Zaire. In 1995, Eric Delaporte et al. worked on 2349 different samples, 43 cases (3.7%) of pregnant women and 86 cases (7.3%) of prostitutes were diagnosed positive for HTLV. Between 1994 and 1998, 41 samples from women with spastic paralysis of the lower limbs were collected by Tshala KD et al., no sample was positive for HTLV. Conclusion: This analysis shows that HTLV infection was of interest in the nineties and has lost interest today. Its prevalence in this decade was between 1% and 15% in the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo. It was higher than that of HIV during the same period.