Abstract

DELGADO, Sandra; GONZALEZ, Elsa; BRAVO, Francisco  and  GOTUZZO, Eduardo. HTLV-1 and HIV infection among patients with herpes zoster in Perú. Rev Med Hered [online]. 2011, vol.22, n.3, pp.98-102. ISSN 1018-130X.

Objectives: To determine the frequency of infection with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and VIH among patients with herpes zoster. Material and methods: Observational prospective study between august 2005 and august 2006. We included adult patients with diagnosis of herpes zoster attending different services at the HNCH. A questionnaire of clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with HTLV-1 and VIH infection was filled prior to blood testing. Patients with previous positive results of HTLV-1 or VIH were not included. Results: 44 patients were included. Age was 48,1 ± 19,5 years, and 24/44 (55%) were women. Isolated VIH infection was diagnosed in 4/44 (9%) patients, all of them under 35 years, whereas isolated HTLV-1 infection was diagnosed in 2/44 (5%) patients, all women over 50 years. A case of dual infection was found in a 56 year old woman. Rate of HTLV-1 infection was 25% (3/12) among women over 50 years with multi-dermatomic involvement. Conclusions: In our setting, HTLV-1 infection is rather frequent among women over the age of 50 presenting with herpes zoster. Thus, HTLV-1 screening should be recommended in this age group, whereas VIH testing is still particularly important among younger patients.(Rev Med Hered 2011;22:98-102).

Keywords : Frequency; herpes zoster; HTLV-1; VIH.

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