Detección de anticuerpos contra los virus linfotrópicos de células T tipo I/ II (HTLV I/ II) como medida de seguridad sanguínea en donantes de sangre en Costa Rica, mayo del 2002 a diciembre del 2004

during 1980, human t lymphotropic virus (htlv-i /ii) were the first retrovirus identified and isolated.the geographic distribution of the virus is global, with endemic regions like south japan, the caribbean islands, western africa, some south and central america countries and other specific populations. most infected patients remain without symptoms for long periods of time but association with human disease has been demonstrated. htlv-ii has been linked to adult t-cell leukemia/lymphoma (atl/atll) and is also the causative agent of a neurological disorder termed htlv-ii associated myelopathy/ttropical spastic parapesis.htlv-ii was first identified in a patient with hairy-cell leukemia, however better studies are needed to establish the relation between both. htlv can be transmitted by blood transfusion and sharing of needles and syringes. during 2002, costa rica became the first latin american country with 100% coverage of blood donors. in this year, the sección de laboratorios clínicos de la ccss began as a project the screening for antibodies against htlv in order to avoid transmission through this route. of 106958 blood donors, 582 (0,54%) were initially reactive by enzyme-immunolinked assay (eelisa), 272 (46,7%) were reactive in duplicated with the same elisa and they were analyzed by a second elisa and 232 were confirmed with an "in-house "western blot (wb).. those represent the 0.25% of the initial population. twenty seven samples (0.03%)confirmed positives and 136 (0.13%) were indeterminate. a commercial wb was performed with 13 of these positive samples, 7 were htlv-ii, 5 were htlv-iii and 1 was an indeterminate pattern. pcr samples were received for 14 patients (positives and indeterminates), 10 were negative, 3 were positive for htlv-ii and 1 was positive or htlv-ii. the higher prevalences were found in the huetar atlántica region with 0,09% and brunca and central sur regions with 0,05%.the pacífico central,chorotega and metropolitan area showed a preval