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Mother-to-child transmission of human herpesvirus-8 in South Africa

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Dedicoat, Martin, Newton, R., Alkharsah, K. R., Sheldon, J., Szabados, I., Ndlovu, B., Page, T., Casabonne, D., Gilks, C.F., Cassol, S. A., Whitby, D. and Schulz, T. F. (2004) 'Mother-to-child transmission of human herpesvirus-8 in South Africa'. Journal of Infectious Disease, Vol 190, Issue 6, pp. 1068-1075.

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Abstract

To investigate transmission of human herpesvirus (HHV)-8,2546 mother-child pairs were recruited from rural clinics in South Africa and were tested for antibodies against lytic and latent HHV-8 antigens. The prevalence of antibodies in children increased with increasing maternal antibody titer (lytic, chi(1)(2) and 26 and P<.001; latent, &chi;(2)(1)=55, and P<.001). HHV-8 DNA was detectable in 145 of 978 maternal saliva samples (mean virus load, 488,450 copies/mL; range, 1550-660,000 copies/mL) and in 12 of 43 breast-milk samples (mean virus load, 5800 copies/mL; range, 1550-12,540 copies/mL). The prevalence of HHV-8 DNA in maternal saliva was unrelated to latent anti-HHV-8 antibody status but was higher in mothers with the highest titers of lytic antibodies than in other mothers (34% vs. 8%; P<.001). The prevalence of lytic anti-HHV-8 antibodies in children was 13% (70/528) if the mother did not have HHV-8 in saliva and was 29% (8/28) if the mother had a high HHV-8 load (>50,000 copies/mL) in saliva (odds ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-6.2). The presence of HHV-8 DNA in maternal saliva was unrelated to latent antibodies in children. Saliva could be a route of transmission of HHV-8 from person to person, although other routes cannot be ruled out.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: QW Microbiology and Immunology > Immunity by Type > QW 553 Maternally acquired immunity
QW Microbiology and Immunology > Antigens and Antibodies. Toxins and Antitoxins > QW 575 Antibodies
WC Communicable Diseases > Virus Diseases > Infectious Viral Skin Diseases > WC 578 Herpes simplex
Digital Object Identifer (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1086/423326
Depositing User: Ms Julia Martin
Date Deposited: 27 Feb 2012 12:04
Last Modified: 07 Dec 2018 09:53
URI: https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/2179

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