Estudo clínico-epidemiológico de pacientes portadores de HTLV-2 atendidos no ambulatório do Núcleo de Medicina Tropical – Universidade Federal do Pará

Abstract

The human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 and 2 (HTLV 1/2) that present modes of transmission sexual, blood transfusion and perinatal. HTLV-1 and 2 are endemic in Amazon region of Brazil. The HTLV-1 are associated with tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM), adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), uveitis and infective dermatitis. This paper aims to describe the illnesses possibly linked to the HTLV-2 in patients presenting neurological, hematological and / or dermatological manifestation, in population served in the Núcleo de Medicina Tropical of Universidade Federal do Pará. The HTLV-2 infection has not yet been clearly associated with any disease, but recent studies shows that this retrovirus may be associated with neurological disease similar to TSP/HAM and peripheral neuropathy onsets. This is a transversal and describe study about clinical and epidemiological aspects from cases infected by HTLV-2 and description of two cases that presented probable diagnosis of disease associated to the virus: one with neurological disease – peripheral polyneuropathy and other with dermatological disease – infective dermatitis. The clinical findings on peripheral polyneuropathy were: paresthesia, hypoaesthesia and distal muscle strength reduced. In infective dermatitis, there was characteristic clinical case, with erythematous, infected and crusted injuries, involving scalp, perinasal regions, retroauricular and ear, coupled with the presence of blefaro-conjunctivitis. This is the first infective dermatitis case associated with HTLV-2 discribed in the literature. The high morbidity of the diseases possibly caused by HTLV 2 justifies studies aimed on better understanding of it, which will turn into possible the adoption of strategies more appropriate for the clinical management, treatment and prevention of these viruses infection and related diseases.