title: Non-detection of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) DNA in HHV-8-seropositive blood donors from three Brazilian regions.
abstract: Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), is the etiologic agent of all forms of Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and the plasmablastic cell variant of multicentric Castleman disease. In endemic areas of sub-Saharan Africa, blood transfusions have been associated with a substantial risk of HHV-8 transmission. By contrast, several studies among healthy blood donors from North America have failed to detect HHV-8 DNA in samples of seropositive individuals. In this study, using a real-time PCR assay, we investigated the presence of HHV-8 DNA in whole-blood samples of 803 HHV-8 blood donors from three Brazilian states (São Paulo, Amazon, Bahia) who tested positive for HHV-8 antibodies, in a previous multicenter study. HHV-8 DNA was not detected in any sample. Our findings do not support the introduction of routine HHV-8 screening among healthy blood donors in Brazil. (WC = 140).
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Tropical da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Eduardo
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Levi
authors.forename: Maria Claudia
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Nascimento
authors.forename: Laura Masami
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Sumita
authors.forename: Vanda Akico Ueda Fick
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: Wilton S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Freire
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mayaud
authors.forename: Claudio S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Pannuti
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D001782:Blood Donors; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D015995:Prevalence; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral