Active tuberculosis in HIV-infected injecting drug users from a low-rate tuberculosis area

Article Abstract:

The incidence of active tuberculosis in HIV-infected drug addicts may be relatively low if the surrounding community has a low incidence of tuberculosis. Researchers identified 27 cases of active tuberculosis among 905 HIV-infected intravenous drug addicts treated at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in inner city Hartford, CT. In 67%, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, was isolated from tissues other than the respiratory system. Only six percent of those with a positive tuberculin test or history of successfully treated tuberculosis developed active tuberculosis. Between 1984 and 1992, the annual incidence of active tuberculosis in these drug addicts was less than one percent. Only one of the drug addicts who developed active tuberculosis had a history of active tuberculosis or a positive tuberculin test before the HIV diagnosis.

Complications and side effects, Development and progression, HIV infection, HIV infections, Tuberculosis

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Quantification of HTLV-II proviral copies by competitive polymerase chain reaction in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of Italian injecting drug users, Central Africans, and Amerindians

Article Abstract:

Precise measurements of the amount of human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) and type II (HTLV-II) may now be possible with the use of a new competitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Researchers used the test to measure the amount of HTLV-II in 11 Italian intravenous drug users infected with the virus and in 10 HTLV-II positive Amerindians and Central Africans from groups among whom HTLV-II is thought to be a native disease. The amount of virus in all 21 individuals varied greatly. HTLV-II positive patients who were also HIV type 1 positive had varying amounts of HTLV-II. The variations in amount of HTLV-II were determined not to be associated with native area, age, or sex. HTLV-II may have cloned itself in patients with large amounts of the virus.

Diagnosis, Polymerase chain reaction, HTLV infections

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Identification of IIa and IIb molecular subtypes of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type II among Italian injecting drug users

Article Abstract:

There appear to be two different subtypes of the human T-cell leukemia virus type II (HTLV-II) in Europe just as there are in North America. Researchers isolated HTLV-II from blood samples from Italian intravenous drug users and sequenced the gene that produces the gp21 envelope protein. This gene sequencing revealed two new isolates that were closely related to American isolates in the HTLV-IIa subtype. Previously, most European isolates belonged to the HTLV-IIb subtype.

Italy, Genetic aspects, HTLV-II (Virus)

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