Anti-Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Antibody Distribution in Miyazaki Prefecture

To elucidate the distribution of anti-Human T-cell Leukemia Virus antibody of the adults in Miyazaki Prefecture, 1, 863 serum samples were examined by indirect immunofluorescent antibody technique with HUT 102 as the target cell, and the following results were obtained.The positive rate was 9.9 per cent as a whole, and 6.3% for male and 11.3% for female. It increased gradually by age from 15 till 54 years old and elevated remarkably at the age group of 55-64, showing the highest rate of 19.3% for female and 11.1% for male, respectively. The geometric mean titer was 59.7. The titer was higher in the older age group.In the geographical distribution, a wide variation of the positive rate was observed among areas. The lowest was 4.4% and the highest was 32.1%. As the general tendency, areas with high positive rate seemed to be observed more frequently in the southern part of the Prefecture than the northern part. It was, however, difficult to find any environmental factor that related to the positive rate of the residents.