prevalence of human t lymphotropic virus type 1 in pregnant women: a narrative review

Background and objectives: human t lymphotropic virus type i (htlv-i) is a virus of the retroviridae family, which has infected more than 20 million people around the world. the study aimed to review the prevalence of htlv infection in pregnant women.methods: we searched various databases including pubmed, embase, scopus, google scholar, sid, magiran and irandoc using the following keywords: htlv-1, htlv-2, retroviridae, pregnancy, prevalence, incidence, women and female. abstracts, short/brief reports as well as original and review articles published on htlv-1 and/or htlv-2 infection during pregnancy until october 2018 were included in the study.results: we found five articles from iran and 14 articles from other parts of the world on the prevalence of htlv-1 infection in pregnant women. prevalence of htlv-1 and or htlv-2 was higher in pregnant women than in non-pregnant women in cities of mashhad and neyshabur, razavi khorasan province (1.5 to 3.3 %), northeastern iran, which are endemic areas of iran for htlv-1 infection. the incidence rate of htlv-1 infection was 400-500 per 10,000 pregnant women in endemic areas of japan. in brazil, the rate of htlv-1 infection in pregnant women was estimated to be 1.05%.conclusion: the prevalence of htlv-1 varies among pregnant women depending on residence in endemic or non-endemic areas for htlv-1. in endemic areas, it is recommended to perform routine screening for htlv-1 infection in the general population, especially pregnant women.