title: Prevalence of human herpesvirus-8 among HIV-infected patients, intravenous drug users and the general population in Iran.
abstract: Studies looking at the frequency of human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) among Iranian blood donors have produced conflicting results. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HHV-8 DNA by using polymerase chain reaction methods among 168 healthy individuals, 60 intravenous drug users and 100 HIV-infected patients from Iran. The prevalence of HHV-8 was significantly higher among intravenous drug users (13.3%) compared with the general population (3.6%; P=0.017). The HHV-8 genome was mostly detected among intravenous drug users who displayed high-risk sexual behaviours. Moreover, the HHV-8 genome was also detected in 8% of HIV-infected patients. The present study findings support the likelihood that the transmission of HHV-8 is via a sexual route in the Iranian population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155, Iran.
authors.forename: Rezvan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kakavand-Ghalehnoei
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran.
authors.forename: Zabihollah
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shoja
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 157856171, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1983963113, Iran.
authors.forename: Mostafa Haji
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Mollahoseini
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155, Iran.
authors.forename: Shohreh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shahmahmoodi
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155, Iran.
authors.forename: Sayed Mahdi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Marashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nejati
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155, Iran.
authors.forename: Somayeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jalilvand
mesh_terms: D055030:Drug Users; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*