Human herpesvirus 8: seroepidemiology among women and detection in the genital tract of seropositive women.
An indirect IFA to detect antibodies against latent nuclear antigens of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) was used to determine the prevalence of HHV-8 antibodies in 169 women attending a sexually transmitted diseases clinic and a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) clinic at a London hospital. Nested polymerase chain reaction was used to detect HHV-8 DNA in 93 blood samples and 89 cervical brush scrapes (CBS). Another 96 CBS from women attending a colposcopy clinic were also analyzed. The overall seroprevalence of HHV-8 was 18.3%. The seroprevalence was higher among women born in Africa (24.7%) than among women born elsewhere (11.5%; P=.06) and was independent of HIV serostatus. HHV-8 DNA was detected in 3 CBS and 6 peripheral blood samples from 11 HHV-8-seropositive women but not in CBS from 78 seronegative women, 96 women from the colposcopy clinic, or in blood samples from 82 seronegative women.
Whitby
D
D
Section of Virology, Institute for Cancer Research, Royal Free HospitalLondon, United Kingdom.
Smith
N A
NA
Matthews
S
S
O'Shea
S
S
Sabin
C A
CA
Kulasegaram
R
R
Boshoff
C
C
Weiss
R A
RA
de Ruiter
A
A
Best
J M
JM
D000349:Africa / Q000208:ethnology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000821:virology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral