ArticleThe Journal of infectious diseases2016
Epidemic History and Iatrogenic Transmission of Blood-borne Viruses in Mid-20th Century Kinshasa.
Article in The Journal of infectious diseases, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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17 citing papers in PubMed.
- High prevalence of HTLV-1 among blood donors in southeastern Gabon (Central Africa): a major challenge for transfusion safety in a semi-rural area.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Epidemiology and Clinical Outcomes of HTLV-1: A Comprehensive Narrative Review of Endemic and Nonendemic Regions.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2026Review
- Review
- The emergence and circulation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 subtype C.Journal of medical microbiology · 2024Article
- Epidemiological Evidence of Nosocomial and Zoonotic Transmission of Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus-1 in a Large Survey in a Rural Population of Central Africa.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Geographic distribution, clinical epidemiology and genetic diversity of the human oncogenic retrovirus HTLV-1 in Africa, the world's largest endemic area.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Clinical and Public Health Implications of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 Infection.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2022Review
- Molecular epidemiology, genetic variability and evolution of HTLV-1 with special emphasis on African genotypes.Retrovirology · 2019Review
- Distinct rates and patterns of spread of the major HIV-1 subtypes in Central and East Africa.PLoS pathogens · 2019Article
- Highly Diverse Hepatitis C Strains Detected in Sub-Saharan Africa Have Unknown Susceptibility to Direct-Acting Antiviral Treatments.Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) · 2019Article
- An Efficient, Large-Scale Survey of Hepatitis C Viremia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Using Dried Blood Spots.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2018Article
- Aspects on the history of transmission and favor of distribution of viruses by iatrogenic action: perhaps an example of a paradigm of the worldwide spread of HIV.Medical microbiology and immunology · 2017Review
- Persistent risk of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma after neonatal HTLV-1 infection through exchange transfusion.International journal of hematology · 2017Article
- Article
- Primate immunodeficiency virus classification and nomenclature: Review.Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases · 2016Review
- Surveys, Serologies, and Sequences Reveal History of Iatrogenic Transmission of HIV-1.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2016Article
- Conflicting Views in Narratives on HIV Transmission via Medical Care.Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS CareArticle
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13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) pandemic was ignited in Léopoldville (now known as Kinshasa), in the former Belgian Congo. Factors that jump-started its early expansion remain unclear. Nonlethal hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV-1) can be used to investigate past iatrogenic transmission.
methodsWe undertook a cross-sectional study of elderly inhabitants of Kinshasa, with serological assays, amplification, and sequencing. Risk factors were assessed through logistic regression. Phylogenetic methods reconstructed the genetic history of HCV.
resultsA total of 217 of 839 participants (25.9%) were HCV seropositive; 26 (3.1%) were HTLV-1-seropositive. Amplification products were obtained from 118 HCV-seropositive participants; subtypes 4k (in 47 participants) and 4r (in 38) were most common. Independent risk factors for HCV subtype 4r seropositivity were intramuscular tuberculosis therapy, intravenous injections at hospital A, intravenous injections before 1960, and injections at a colonial-era venereology clinic. Intravenous injections at hospital B and antimalarials were associated with HCV subtype 4k seropositivity. Risk factors for HTLV-1 seropositivity included intravenous injections at hospitals C or D and transfusions. Evolutionary analysis of viral sequences revealed independent exponential amplification of HCV subtypes 4r and 4k from the 1950s onward.
conclusionsIatrogenic transmission of HCV and HTLV-1 occurred in mid-20th century Kinshasa, at the same time and place HIV-1 emerged. Iatrogenic routes may have contributed to the early establishment of the pandemic.
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