HTLV-1 infection is endemic in the French Antilles, French Guiana, and in sub-Saharan Africa, the origin of many immigrants currently living in France. There are no national screening recommendations outside of the regulatory obligations concerning donations of blood, tissue, gametes or milk to a lactarium. This study aimed to investigate screening and diagnostic practices for this infection in France. Serological statistics for regulatory, antenatal, sexually transmitted infections (for CeGIDD – public sexual health clinics), accidental exposure to blood (AEB) screenings and diagnosis since January 1, 2018, were collected from 23 hospital laboratories (2 in the French Antilles, 21 in mainland France) associated with 55 hospitals and 22 maternity units. A total absence of antenatal screening was reported by 75% of the laboratories associated with maternity units in mainland France. All the laboratories in mainland France reported an absence of screening in the AEB context, as did all the laboratories in mainland France associated with a CeGIDD in the context of STI screening. Conversely, screening in accordance with the existing regulations was generally systematically carried out. The most frequently reported diagnostic contexts were hematology and neurology. This study reveals an underscreening of HTLV-1 in the hospital laboratories of mainland France.
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Moquet et al. (2024) studied this question.
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