Paper Title
Sero-Prevalence of HTLV 1 and 2 among Blood Donors in Guyana

Abstract
The human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) is a RNA delta retrovirus that has a high endemicity in certain ethnic groups and geographical areas. Transmission of HTLV is mainly through contact with contaminated blood that is highly efficient with a seroconversion rate of 44-63%. Blood donor information were collected from the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS) for the period January 2009 to December 2012. Data collected was analyzed using the STATA software- STATALC 13 (64-bit) and Microsoft Excel. Ethical approval was granted from the Ministry of Public Health Institutional Review Board (IRB). A total of 27, 368 donor cards were reviewed for the period under study. The study had an overall seroprevalence of 0.9% and age group ≥ 50 recorded highest number of seropositive persons. Females had a seroprevalence of 0.5% while males were at 0.4%. Among the groups Afro Guyanese were noted as having the higher seroprevalence. However, there is still the need for more health education and health promotion in the general population to make persons more aware of HTLV and how they can protect themselves. Keywords - HTLV Human T Lymphotropic Virus; TSP Tropical Spastic Paraparesis; ATL Adult T Cell Lymphoma