Low prevalence of antibody to adult T-cell leukemia-associated antigen (anti-ATLA) in hospital personnel.

1824 serum samples collected from employees of four hospitals, 538 from inpatients of one of the hospitals, and 352 from healthy inhabitants (control) of a town near one of the hospitals were surveyed for antibody to adult T-cell leukemia-associated antigen (anti-ATLA). Overall prevalence was 6.3% for the hospital employees, 16.0% for the inpatients, and 12.2% for the control. Office workers (11.5%) and the control subjects (12.2%) had the highest prevalence, and physicians (1.4%) and laboratory technicians (2.4 % ) the lowest. Prevalence was significantly lower in physicians and laboratory technicians than in the control (p<0.05, respectively). Prevalence in nurses (6.3%) was intermediate among the five categories of hospital personnel and lower than in office wokers and the control. These data show that hospital employees may not run a risk of transmitting ATLV through medical care as they do with HBV infections.