Human herpesvirus 8 primary infection occurs during childhood in Cameroon,Central Africa

Citation
A. Gessain et al., Human herpesvirus 8 primary infection occurs during childhood in Cameroon,Central Africa, INT J CANC, 81(2), 1999, pp. 189-192
Citations number
24
Categorie Soggetti
Onconogenesis & Cancer Research
Journal title
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER
ISSN journal
00207136 → ACNP
Volume
81
Issue
2
Year of publication
1999
Pages
189 - 192
Database
ISI
SICI code
0020-7136(19990412)81:2<189:HH8PIO>2.0.ZU;2-B
Abstract
While in the United States and northern Europe, human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) appears to be mainly sexually transmitted with primary infection occurring in adulthood, the modes of transmission remain unknown in East and Central Africa, where Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a long-standing endemic disease, oc curring not only in adults but also in children. The aim of our present stu dy was to determine the prevalence of HHV-8 infection in children from Yaou nde, Cameroon, Central Africa. Specific antibodies directed against both la tent and lytic HHV-8 antigens were detected and titrated, with an immunoflu orescence assay using the KS-I cell line, in the plasma of 258 children and adolescents, of 32 mother and child pairs and of 189 pregnant women. Two d ifferent HHV-8 DNA-specific sequences were searched in the buffy coat by PC R assays. The overall HHV-8 seroprevalence was 27.5% among these children a nd adolescents. In newborns, seroprevalence reached 46%, reflecting passive transmission of maternal IgG. This was followed by a marked drop. Then, be ginning around 4 years of age, a regular increase of HHV-8 antibodies took place, reaching 39% in the 12- to 14-year age group and 48% above 15 years, a rate similar (54.5%) to that observed in pregnant women. PCR detection o f HHV-3 sequences was negative in seronegative children and positive in the buffy coat in 17% of HHV-8-seropositive children, reflecting a low viral l oad in the peripheral blood. Our results establish that in Central Africa H HV-8 infection takes place during childhood by casual routes, in contrast t o the sexual transmission observed in adults in northern Europe and the Uni ted States. We hypothesize that the lymphadenopathic form of KS seen in Afr ican children is related to an early and massive infection by HHV-8 in susc eptible individuals. Int. J. Cancer 81:189-192, 1999. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.