HETEROSEXUAL TRANSMISSION OF HHV 8 IN KENYA

描述：HHV-8传播的流行病学仍然知之甚少。 在工业化国家，有证据表明同性恋传播， 一般人口的血清阳性率较低。然而，在撒哈拉以南非洲， 非洲HHV-8血清阳性率从婴儿期到成年期逐渐增加， 据报道，在一般人群中， 一些国家。有一些证据表明，妓女的风险增加 HHV-8感染与高危异性性行为有关。 1993年，研究人员对妓女进行了前瞻性队列研究 在肯尼亚的蒙巴萨他们的试点数据表明，这些妇女在相当大的 HHV-8感染的风险，入组血清阳性率为41%， 年发病率为4.1%。他们提议研究异性恋 通过评估血清阳性率， 血清发病率，以及流行和偶发感染的相关性。存在 宫颈和阴道分泌物中的HHV-8 DNA，以及唾液、血浆和 将在慢性和急性感染女性中评价PBMC，以更好地 了解影响传染性的因素。他们还将寻求确定 是否存在与原发性肝癌相关的特征性临床疾病 HHV-8感染，如27例血清学事件的初步分析所示 例在过去7年中，迄今已有1 200多名妇女参加， 每年约有150名新妇女参加这项研究。女性每月接受一次随访， 定期进行问卷调查、体格检查和血清学检测， HHV-8的精确获取时间 Kaposi肉瘤是HHV-8的主要致病因素， 在一些非洲国家，由于艾滋病毒/艾滋病的并发症， 疫情 更好地了解HHV-8的异性传播是至关重要的， 制定预防HHV-8感染的干预策略， 相关恶性肿瘤。

DESCRIPTION: The epidemiology of HHV-8 transmission remains poorly understood. In industrialized countries, there is evidence for homosexual transmission but the seroprevalence is low in the general population. However, in sub-Saharan Africa HHV-8 seroprevalence increases gradually from infancy through adulthood, and rates exceeding 50 percent have been reported in the general population in some countries. There is some evidence that prostitutes are at increased risk and that HHV-8 infection is associated with High-risk heterosexual behavior. In 1993 the investigators established a prospective cohort study of prostitutes in Mombasa Kenya. Their pilot data suggest that these women are at substantial risk for HHV-8 infection, with an enrollment seroprevalence of 41 percent and annual incidence of 4.1 percent. They propose to study heterosexual transmission of HHV-8 in this cohort by evaluating seroprevalence, seroincidence, and correlates of prevalent and incident infection. Presence of HHV-8 DNA in cervical and vaginal secretions, as well as in saliva, plasma and PBMCs will be evaluated in chronically and acutely infected women to better understand factors that influence infectivity. They will also seek to determine whether there is a characteristic clinical illness associated with primary HHV-8 infection, as is suggested by preliminary analyses of 27 seroincident cases. Over 1,200 women have been enrolled to date over the past 7 years and about 150 new women join the study each year. Women are followed at monthly intervals with questionnaires, physical examinations, and serologic assays for precise timing of HHV-8 acquisition. Kaposi's sarcoma, the major morbidity associated with HHV-8, has become the leading cause of cancer in some African countries because of the concurrence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. A better understanding of heterosexual transmission of HHV-8 is essential for the development of interventions strategies to prevent HHV-8 infection and associated malignancy.