Antibodies to the AIDS-associated Retrovirus in Hemophiliacs and Other Individuals from Southern Spain: Lack of Correlation with Lymphocytes Sub-populations

Exposure to the AIDS-associated retrovirus (ARV) has been observed in 54 hemophiliacs in Southern Spain who have received commercial coagulation factors manufactured in the United States. Contact with ARV could be detected in some sera collected in 1982. Frequency among asymptomatic hemophiliacs was 44%, in individuals with lymphadenopathy syndrome 71%, and 2 AIDS cases were seropositive. Evidence for exposure to ARV did not correlate with changes in the lymphocyte populations or in the clinical condition of the patients. Only the amount of factor received distinguished the seropositive and the seronegative groups of hemophiliacs. Exposure to ARV was also detected in sera from homosexual men and I.V. drug addicts. The results indicate that members of AIDS risk groups in Spain have had contact with the AIDS retrovirus.