Another follow-up to my Oct. 7th post, Subject "Reasons not to BF" addresses 
the "mother who is infected with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I or 
type II.  My research revealed the following:

"Today, the primary mode of HTLV-1 transmission is breastfeeding. The 
mechanism is explained by HTLV-infected T cells in breast milk passing from 
mother to child. Any other activity that can pass infected T cells is a potential 
route of transmission. In the absence of blood-bank screening, blood-product 
transfusions are a major contributor around the world. Other routes that 
continue to contribute to HTLV epidemics are sexual contact (primarily males 
transmitting to females), childbirth, and injection drug use. 
The risk of vertical transmission of HTLV-1 from an infected mother is 20%. 
This appears to be primarily due to duration of breastfeeding but is also 
influenced by proviral load and quantity of maternal antibodies. Intrauterine 
infection appears to be rare."
RESOURCE: Wainscoat, B., et al. (July 13, 2006). Human T-Cell Lymphotrophic 
Viruses. WebMD. Retrieved October 9, 2007 from www.emedicine.com.


“Human T-lymphotropic virus type II (HTLV-II) is transmitted primarily by 
sharing contaminated needles and by sexual contact. Unlike for type I, vertical 
transmission of HTLV-II has not been documented, although breast-feeding 
has been suggested as a possible risk factor for HTLV-II transmission. Recent 
serologic analyses of prostitutes and Mayan Indians in Mexico identified women 
with HTLV-II infection. We studied family members of four of these women 
who were positive for HTLV-II to identify the mode of transmission of HTLV-II 
to close family contacts. Although we could not document sexual transmission 
in the sexual partners of these women who were positive for HTLV-II, we 
report the first case of mother-to-child transmission of HTLV-II, which 
occurred in an 8-year-old child who was breast-fed from birth to 4 years.”
RESOURCE: Lal, R., et al. (February 15, 1994). Mother-to-Child Transmission of 
Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type II (HTLV-II). Annals of Internal Medicine, 
120(4): 300-301.

Stephanie M. Smith, Ivy Tech Student Nurse

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
Mail all commands to [log in to unmask]
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask])
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask])
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]