Kaposi`s sarcoma associated herpesvirus infection among female sex workers and general population women in Shanghai, China: a cross-sectional study.
BACKGROUND
Limited information on epidemiologic patterns of KSHV, with none focusing on heterosexual transmission, is available in mainland China. To clarify this, a cross-sectional study was conducted among a group of female sex workers (FSW) and general population women (GW) in Shanghai, China.


METHODS
An anonymous questionnaire interview was administrated among 600 FSW and 600 GW. Blood samples were collected and tested for antibodies to KSHV, HSV-2, HIV, syphilis and HBsAg. Correlates of KSHV and HSV-2 were examined using multiple logistic regression analysis.


RESULTS
None of the study participants were tested positive for HIV. The seroprevalence of KSHV, HSV-2 , HBV and syphilis was 10.0%, 52.2%, 12.3% and 10.5%, respectively for FSW, and was 11.0%, 15.3%, 9.8% and 2.8%, respectively for GW. KSHV seropositivity was not associated with syphilis and HSV-2 infection as well as sexual practices among either FSW or GW. Nevertheless, HSV-2 infection among FSW was independently associated with being ever married (OR = 1.59; 95%CI: 1.04-2.45), >5 years of prostitution (OR = 2.06; 95%CI: 1.16-3.68) and being syphilis positive (OR = 2.65; 95%CI: 1.43-4.93). HSV-2 infection among GW was independently associated with an age of >35 years (OR = 2.29; 95%CI: 1.07-4.93), having had more than 2 sex partners in the prior 12 months (OR = 6.44; 95%CI: 1.67-24.93) and being syphilis positive (OR = 3.94; 95%CI: 1.38-11.23). A gradual increase of prevalence with the prostitution time group was also detected for HSV-2 and syphilis, but not for KSHV.


CONCLUSIONS
KSHV is moderately and equivalently prevalent among FSW and GW. Heterosexual contact is not a predominant route for KSHV transmission among Chinese women.
Tiejun
T
Zhang
Ying
Y
Yang
Feng
F
Yu
Yanping
Y
Zhao
Feifei
F
Lin
Veenu
V
Minhas
Charles
C
Wood
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. nhe@shmu.edu.cn.
Na
N
He
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D020010:Heterosexuality; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000821:virology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D011477:Sex Work; D060386:Sex Workers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012747:Sexual Partners; D013587:Syphilis / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult