Prevalence of antibodies to human T-lymphotropic virus-III (HTLV-III) in hemophiliacs and other patients chronically substituted with blood products.

The prevalence of antibodies to human T-lymphotropic virus III (HTLV-III) was determined in a total of 140 hemophiliacs and 36 polytransfused patients from three medical centers by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and confirmatory tests. 58 hemophiliacs (41.4%) were seropositive. In all instances where the origin of the coagulation factors given to these patients could be determined, blood products came from the United States. In addition, 2 of 36 polytransfused patients, mostly with acute leukemias, who were transfused with blood products from local donors were positive for HTLV-III antibodies. No HTLV-III antibodies were detected in 237 blood donors selected in part from the donor pool of the polytransfused patients.