Screening for human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection in Jewish psychiatric patients of Iranian origin

摘要

A high prevalence of human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection has been identified in Israel among the Mashhadi Jewish community originating from northern Iran. In the present study we screened and examined Iranian-born psychiatric outpatients for the presence of HTLV-I infection. The presence of HTLV-I antibodies was determined by the gelatin particle agglutination test, and simultaneously by the Western blot method. Screening of 50 (26 males, 24 females) Iranian-born Israeli Jewish psychiatric outpatients showed 2% (one of 50) prevalence of HTLV-I seropositivity, This low rate of HTLV-I virus carriers in the study population indicates that there is no association between HTLV-I infection and psychiatric morbidity in non-Mashhadi Iranian-born Jewish psychiatric patients.