Apparent Transmission of Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type III to a Heterosexual Woman with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

  1. JEROME E. GROOPMAN, M.D.;
  2. M. G. SARNGADHARAN, Ph.D.;
  3. SYED Z. SALAHUDDIN, M.S.;
  4. RICHARD BUXBAUM, M.D.;
  5. MARK S. HUBERMAN, M.D.;
  6. JOAN KINNIBURGH, R.N.;
  7. ANN SLISKI, D.Sc.;
  8. MARY F. McLANE, B.S.;
  9. MYRON ESSEX, Ph.D.; and
  10. ROBERT C. GALLO, M.D.
  1. Boston, Massachusetts; and Kensington and Bethesda, Maryland

    Abstract

    A 24-year-old woman developed the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with lymphadenopathy, oral candidiasis, and Kaposi's sarcoma. Her only known risk factor for the syndrome was sexual contact with an asymptomatic Haitian man. The woman had serologic evidence for infection with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III, and this virus was recovered from the saliva of her sexual partner. Epidemiologic and virologic studies of the cases of such patients provide further evidence of a primary pathogenetic role for this retrovirus in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

    Article and Author Information

    • ▸From the Department of Medicine, New England Deaconess Hospital; Department of Medicine, Harvard Community Health Plan; and Department of Cancer Biology, Harvard School of Public Health; Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Cell Biology, Litton Bionetics, Inc., Kensington, Maryland; and the Laboratory of Tumor Biology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.

    • ▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Jerome Groopman, M.D.; Hematology/Oncology Division, New England Deaconess Hospital, 110 Francis Street; Boston, MA 02215.

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    1. Ann Intern Med January 1, 1985 vol. 102 no. 1 63-66
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