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Antibodies to HTLV-III and the Lymphadenopathy Syndrome in Multitransfused β-Thalassemia Patients |
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| Authors: | M. De Martino G. Quarta A. Melpignano C. Guadalupi C. Vullo M. Ferrucci A. G. Saimot and A. Vierucci |
| Affiliation: | Department of Pediatrics, Division of Clinical Immunology, University of Florence, Italy;Thalassemia Center, Di Summa Hospital, Brindisi, Italy;Thalassemia Center, St. Anna Hospital, Ferrara, Italy;Clinical Pathology Unit, St. Anna Hospital, Ferrara, Italy;Institute for Tropical Medicine and Epidemiology, Hospital Claude Bernard, Paris, France |
| Abstract: | Antibodies to HTLV-III have been investigated in 118 multitransfused beta-thalassemia patients. Thirteen patients (11.01%) were found to be positive; 3 of these 13 showed clinical and immunological signs of the lymphadenopathy syndrome. A retrospective study carried out on 65 sera has shown that at least 6 patients were negative 3 years before the present investigation. This is the first extensive study on HTLV-III infection in multitransfused beta-thalassemics. It suggests that these patients are at risk for the acquired immune deficiency syndrome and related diseases. |
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