What does a positive HTLV test mean?

What does a positive HTLV test mean?

A positive HTLV-I/II molecular test indicates that the person tested has an HTLV-I or HTLV-II infection. If the molecular result is negative, then the person is less likely to be infected, but it cannot be ruled out as the amount of virus in the blood may have been too low to detect at the time of the test.

Who should get tested for HTLV?

This test is recommended for any individual who has multiple sexual partners; especially those from HTLV prevalent areas such as SW Japan, the Caribbean, and parts of Africa, is an IV drug user, has shared needles, or has had a blood transfusion. Antibodies to HTLV may take up to 3 months to be present in the body.

What is HTLV-I II antibody test?

The HTLV-I/II Antibody test detects antibodies to the Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV), a retrovirus, and differentiates between the two types of HTLV. The presence of antibodies to HTLV-I or HTLV-II indicates that a person is infected with the Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus.

What are the signs and symptoms of HTLV?

Initial symptoms are subtle and include gait problems, unexplained falls, low back pain, constipation, urinary urgency/incontinence and numbness or pain in the lower limbs. Over the years, progressive leg weakness ensues followed by the exacerbation of the urinary and sensory symptoms.

Should I be worried about HTLV?

Although a few individuals have severe symptoms, most patients remain asymptomatic throughout their lives and their infections may be unknown to many health professionals. HTLV-1 can be considered a neglected public health problem and there are not many studies specifically on patients’ needs and emotional experiences.

How serious is HTLV?

If you are infected with HTLV-1, the virus won’t necessarily affect your health. Most people with HTLV-1 find it causes them no problems at all. But around 1 in 20 people develop one of two serious conditions: adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma.

Does HTLV show up in blood work?

HTLV infection does not show up in routine blood tests such as those requested by your family doctor or routine hospital tests. Because HTLV causes a lifelong infection, the presence of specific HTLV antibodies is proof of infection.

What is HTLV disease?

The human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 is also known by the acronym HTLV-1, or as human T-cell leukaemia virus type 1. The virus can cause a type of cancer called adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATL). HTLV-1 is transmitted primarily through infected bodily fluids including blood, breast milk and semen.

Is HTLV serious?

HTLV-1 is a type of human immunodeficiency virus. It causes no symptoms in a vast majority of infected people. However, it can lead to serious illnesses in some.

How long can you live with HTLV-1?

For smoldering and chronic ATLL, median survival is estimated to be ∼30 to 55 mo (9), whereas survival is estimated to be 10 mo for the lymphomatous and 8 mo for the acute subtype, respectively (9). Of HTLV-1–infected patients, 0.25 to 3.8% develop HAM/TSP.

What can cause a false positive HTLV test?

What is meant by a false-positive test result? A false-positive test result means that the initial screening test was reactive, but a more precise supplemental test was negative. Almost all false-positive test results occur because of interference with the test and are not due to infection.

What does HTLV reactive mean?

A reactive screening test result is suggestive of infection with either HTLV-I or HTLV-II. However, this result does not confirm infection (eg, low specificity), and it cannot differentiate between HTLV-I and HTLV-II infection.

Why do you need A HTLV blood test?

The HTLV blood test can provide patients and doctors with needed information about the status of an individual’s overall health. If you have the risk factors for an HTLV infection and are experiencing the signs or symptoms of a serious disease linked to this virus, then speak to your doctor today about the advantages of having this test done.

How does HTLV 1 affect the immune system?

HTLV-1 is a virus that infects T-cells, a type of white blood cell that forms part of your immune system. HTLV is also known as human T-cell lymphotropic virus. HTLV-1 does not cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS.

How is HTLV 1 infection diagnosed in Australia?

HTLV-1 infection is usually diagnosed using a blood test to detect antibodies to the virus. Because many people have no symptoms, some will only learn that they are carrying the virus when blood is being tested for other reasons. Australian blood donor centres have been screening blood for HTLV-1 infection for 25 years.

What does HTLV-III stand for in AIDS?

HTLV-III is an outdated term for HIV-1. In the very early years of the AIDS epidemic, scientists were looking for the cause of the disease. Different scientists discovered viruses that were associated with AIDS and gave them different names: HTLV-III (Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type III) LAV (Lymphadenopathy Associated Virus)…