EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS DNA IN THE BLOOD OF INFANTS, YOUNG-CHILDREN, AND ADULTS BY AGE AND HIV STATUS

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methodology was used to detect Epstein -Barr virus (EBV) DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) fr om children and adults whose HIV status (i.e., infected or uninfected) is known. Initial EBV infections especially occurred in children betw een the ages of 7 and 24 months. EBV-positive children with vertically acquired HIV infection tended to have a detectable blood level of EBV DNA for a period of years, and their EBV DNA blood levels often excee ded 10,000 copies/0.1 mi of blood-hundreds of times higher than levels typically found in EBV-positive, HIV-uninfected children of the same age. EBV DNA was found in PBMCs in 26% of 49 HIV-infected mothers who were sampled during their pregnancy, but the median EBV DNA level in t heir EBV-positive samples was low-only 50 copies/0.1 mi blood. In Limi ted tests with specimens from children infected with both HIV and EBV, high blood levels of EBV DNA unexpectedly appeared to be associated w ith decreased blood levels of HIV DNA (p =.063).