Group calls on WHO to help fight HTLV-1
Preventing transmission
The letter outlines 5 strategies to prevent or reduce transmission of HTLV-1. The authors recommend:
- Protecting the sexually active population with routine HTLV-1 testing in sexual health clinics and through promotion of CMPC—Counsel & Monitor HTLV-1-positive patients, notify Partners, and promote Condom usage
- Protecting blood and organ donors and recipients by testing for HTLV, avoiding use of products that may be infected, and promoting CMPC
- Protecting mothers, babies, and fathers via routine antenatal care testing, advising HTLV-1-positive mothers against breastfeeding (when feasible), and promoting CMPC
- Protecting injectable drug users by promoting HTLV-1 testing, providing safe needles through needle exchange program, and promoting CMPC
- Supporting the general population and healthcare providers by providing access to an up-to-date WHO HTLV-1 Fact Sheet that can help healthcare providers diagnose HTLV-1 and related diseases and help patients protect themselves from HTLV-1.
“This virus has been underestimated since the time of its discovery perhaps because it is restricted to certain regions or because it is not terribly infectious,” said William Hall, MD, PhD, co-founder of GVN and a professor at the University College Dublin in Ireland.
“However, for decades, it has been known that HTLV-1 is highly carcinogenic and causes severe paralytic neurologic disease and immune disorders that can lead to bacterial infections. It is time that the WHO publicize prevention strategies against this devastating virus.”
*GVN is an international coalition of medical virologists dedicated to identifying, researching, fighting, and preventing current and emerging pandemic viruses that pose a threat to public health.
