| decreased survival of htlv-i carriers in leprosy patients from the democratic republic of the congo: a historical prospective study. | in this historical prospective study using sera stored for 22 years, we investigated the effect of htlv-i infection on survival in a population of leprosy patients in the democratic republic of the congo (formerly zaire). we also determined the distribution of htlv-i by subpopulation, age, and gender. stored sera taken from a population of leprosy patients and controls in 1969 were tested for htlv-i. follow-up survival data on these patients were obtained in 1991. the sera collected in 1969 from ... | 1997 | 9342260 |