First survey for detecting the presence of human herpesvirus 8 infection (HHV-8) in Maputo, Mozambique

• Published in: The Brazilian journal of infectious diseases 2009-06, Vol.13 (3), p.200-202
• Main Authors: Caterino-de-Araujo, Adele, Manuel, Rolanda Carmen Rafael, Bianco, Rosana Del, Santos-Fortuna, Elizabeth, Magri, Mariana Cavalheiro, Silva, Joyce Matie Kinoshita, Bastos, Rui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - diagnosis; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - epidemiology; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - virology; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Brazil; Epidemics; Female; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; frequency; Health aspects; Herpesviridae Infections - diagnosis; Herpesviridae Infections - epidemiology; Herpesvirus 8, Human - immunology; Herpesvirus 8, Human - isolation & purification; Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8); Humans; Infection; INFECTIOUS DISEASES; Kaposi's sarcoma; Male; Mozambique; Mozambique - epidemiology; Risk Factors; Sarcoma; serology; Socioeconomic Factors
• ISSN: 1413-8670; 1678-4391; 1678-4391; 1413-8670
• DOI: 10.1590/S1413-86702009000300008

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), the etiological agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), is endemic in parts of the sub-Saharan, and KS has increased concomitantly with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In Mozambique (MZ), no data concerning HHV-8 infection was available, thus the main of this work was to investigate, for the first time, the presence of HHV-8 infection in Maputo, MZ. Latent and lytic HHV-8-specific antibodies were assessed in blood samples from 189 individuals from the Central Hospital of Maputo, MZ, using 'in-house' immunofluorescence assays conducted in São Paulo, Brazil. The results obtained were analyzed according to socio-demographic and clinical variables using the Chi-square test and logistic regression. An HHV-8 seropositivity of 1.8% and 9.7% was detected among 57 medical students and 31 individuals from the staff, respectively, in contrast to 16.4% detected among 67 out-patients. Concerning 34 hospitalized patients from the Dermatology Unit, 47.1% were HHV-8-seropositive overall, while the rate was 85.7% among KS patients. The present survey, conducted in Maputo, MZ, demonstrates great variation in HHV-8 infection frequencies depending on the group analyzed and epidemiological variables. An association between HHV-8 seropositivity and male gender (OR 5.72), the central origin of patients (OR 5.33), blood transfusions (OR 3.25), and KS (OR 24.0) was detected among hospitalized patients, and primary school (OR 7.18) and HIV-1 infection (OR 8.76) among out-patients.