PLoS ONE (Jan 2011)

Non-detection of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) DNA in HHV-8-seropositive blood donors from three Brazilian regions.

  • José Eduardo Levi,
  • Maria Claudia Nascimento,
  • Laura Masami Sumita,
  • Vanda Akico Ueda Fick de Souza,
  • Wilton S Freire,
  • Philippe Mayaud,
  • Claudio S Pannuti

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023546
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 8
p. e23546

Abstract

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Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), is the etiologic agent of all forms of Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and the plasmablastic cell variant of multicentric Castleman disease. In endemic areas of sub-Saharan Africa, blood transfusions have been associated with a substantial risk of HHV-8 transmission. By contrast, several studies among healthy blood donors from North America have failed to detect HHV-8 DNA in samples of seropositive individuals. In this study, using a real-time PCR assay, we investigated the presence of HHV-8 DNA in whole-blood samples of 803 HHV-8 blood donors from three Brazilian states (São Paulo, Amazon, Bahia) who tested positive for HHV-8 antibodies, in a previous multicenter study. HHV-8 DNA was not detected in any sample. Our findings do not support the introduction of routine HHV-8 screening among healthy blood donors in Brazil. (WC = 140).