Low socioeconomic status and risk for infection with human herpesvirus 8 among HIV-1 negative, South African black cancer patients.
Between January 1994 and October 1997, we interviewed 2576 black in-patients with newly diagnosed cancer in Johannesburg and Soweto, South Africa. Blood was tested for HIV-1 and HHV-8 antibodies and the study was restricted to 2191 HIV-1 antibody-negative patients. We examined the relationship between infection with HHV-8 and sociodemographic and behavioural factors using unconditional logistic regression models. Of the 2191 HIV-1 negative patients who did not have Kaposi's sarcoma, 854 (39.1%) were positive for antibodies against the latent nuclear antigen of HHV-8 encoded by orf73 in a immunofluorescence assay. Infection with HHV-8 was independently associated with increasing age (P trend = 0.02). For females, independent risk factors also included working in a paid domestic capacity (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.09-2.44, P = 0.02), defining occupational status as economically non-active unemployed (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.06-2.72, P = 0.03), having a state pension or being on a disability grant (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.05-2.11, P = 0.02), using oral contraceptives (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.03-1.99, P = 0.03) and having a delayed age at menarche (P trend = 0.04). The relationship between these variables and HHV-8 antibody status requires further, prospective study.
Wojcicki
J M
JM
Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco 94105, USA. jwojcicki@psg.ucsf.edu
Newton
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R
Urban
Mi
M
Stein
L
L
Hale
M
M
Patel
M
M
Ruff
P
P
Sur
R
R
Bourboulia
D
D
Sitas
F
F
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000209:etiology* / Q000635:transmission*; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology