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

  1. Author:
    Dedicoat, M.
    Newton, R.
    Alkharsah, K. R.
    Sheldon, J.
    Szabados, I.
    Ndlovu, B.
    Page, T.
    Casabonne, D.
    Gilks, C. F.
    Cassol, S. A.
    Whitby, D.
    Schulz, T. F.

  2. Author Address

    Univ Liverpool, Liverpool Sch Trop Med, Liverpool L3 5QA, Merseyside, England. Canc Res UK Epidemiol Unit, Oxford, England. Hlabisa Hosp, Hlabisa, South Africa. Africa Ctr Populat & Hlth Res, Hlabisa, South Africa. Hannover Med Sch, Dept Virol, D-3000 Hannover, Germany. NCI, Viral Epidemiol Branch, Frederick, MD 21701 USA Dedicoat, M, Radcliffe Infirm, Canc Res UK Epidemiol Unit, Gibson Bldg, Oxford OX2 6HE, England
    1. Year: 2004
    2. Date: SEP 15
  2. Journal: Journal of Infectious Diseases
    1. 190
    2. 6
    3. Pages: 1068-1075
  4. Type of Article: Article
  1. 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, χ(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

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External Sources

  1. View record in Web of Science®
  2. WOS: 000223633400005

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