The slowdown of new infections by human retroviruses has reached a plateau in Spain
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The 2022 annual meeting of the HTLV & HIV-2 Spanish Network was held in Madrid on December 14. We summarize here the main information presented and discussed at the workshop and review time trends for human retroviral infections in Spain. As transmissible agents, infections by human retroviruses are of obligatory declaration. Until the end of 2022, the Spanish national registry had recorded 451 cases of HTLV-1, 821 of HTLV-2, and 416 of HIV-2. For HIV-1, estimates are of 150 000 people currently living with HIV-1 and 60 000 cumulative deaths due to AIDS. During year 2022, new diagnoses in Spain were of 22 for HTLV-1, 6 for HTLV-2, and 7 for HIV-2. The last updated figures for HIV-1 are from 2021 and counted 2786 new diagnoses. The slowdown in yearly infections for HIV-1 in Spain points out that new strategies are needed to achieve the United Nations 95-95-95 targets by 2025. For the remaining neglected human retroviral infections, their control might be pushed throughout four interventions: (1) expanding testing; (2) improving education and interventions aimed to reduce risk behaviors; (3) facilitating access to antiretrovirals as treatment and prevention, including further development of long-acting formulations; and (4) increasing vaccine research efforts. Spain is a 47 million population country in South Europe with strong migration flows from HTLV-1 endemic regions in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. At this time universal HTLV screening has been implemented only in the transplantation setting, following the report of 5 cases of HTLV-associated myelopathy shortly after transplantation of organs from HTLV-1 positive donors. There are four target populations for expanding testing and unveiling asymptomatic carriers responsible for silent HTLV-1 transmissions: (1) migrants; (2) individuals with sexually transmitted infections; (3) pregnant women; and (4) blood donors.
Source: Journal of Medical Virology
DOI: 10.1002/jmv.28779
Authors: Carmen de Mendoza, Paula Carrizo, Silvia Sauleda, Alberto Richart, Ariadna Rando, Elisenda Miró, Rafael Benito, Oscar Ayerdi, Begoña Encinas, Antonio Aguilera, Gabriel Reina, Silvia Rojo, Rocío González, Mario Fernández‐Ruiz, Paloma Liendo, Natalia Montiel, Lourdes Roc, Ana Treviño, María José Pozuelo, Vicente Soriano, The HTLV Spanish Network
Institutions: Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda, Banc de Sang i Teixits, Vall d'Hebron Hospital Universitari, Hospital de Sant Pau, Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Research Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre, Hospital Universitario 12 De Octubre, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital de Basurto, Universidad de Cádiz, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, Universidad San Pablo CEU
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Instituto de Salud Carlos III
OpenAlex ID: W4375950601