Increased human herpesvirus 8 seroprevalence in young homosexual men who have multiple sex contacts with different partners

The objective of this study was to evaluate the behavioral risks that are a ssociated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection in a cohort of young h omosexual men. Seventy-nine subjects (ages 22-33 years) who completed a que stionnaire about their sexual and drug use behavior over the preceding year were recruited from the San Francisco Young Men's Health Study. Plasma sam ples were tested for anti-HHV-8 antibodies using an indirect IFA, Thirty-ei ght subjects (48.1%) were infected with HHV-8. HHV-8 infection was signific antly linked to an increasing number of male sex partners (P = .025, Mantel -Haenszel chi(2) test for trend), suggesting a strong association between H HV-8 infection and multiple homosexual contacts.