ACQUISITION OF HUMAN HERPES VIRUS-8 IN INFANCY

本子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的众多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能已经从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。列出的机构是中心的，不一定是研究者的机构。人类疱疹病毒8 (HHV-8)，也称为卡波西肉瘤疱疹病毒（KSHV），于1994年首次被描述。在艾滋病患者的卡波西肉瘤组织中检测到病毒序列。这种疱疹病毒与另一种人类疱疹病原体爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒最相似。其他几种疾病随后也与HHV-8病毒有关。一个关键问题是人们如何以及何时感染HHV-8。许多人类疱疹病毒在儿童早期获得，此后在成年中后期出现之前有数十年的潜伏期。该提案的目的是调查婴儿HHV-8感染及其在美国出生的新生儿的传播途径。该项目的总体目标是确定在出生后第一年感染HHV-8的婴儿的百分比。这些研究人员推测，在出生后第一年感染HHV-8的儿童比以前怀疑的要多。他们特别提出，这种感染可能是在围产期或出生后的头几个月获得的。据推测，母体的血液、产道中的分泌物或母乳会将传染性传给新生儿。婴儿口腔上皮细胞是一种易感细胞。此后，感染将无症状，直到成年晚期，除非该人获得免疫抑制条件。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8), also called Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), was first described in 1994. The viral sequences were detected in tissues of Kaposi sarcoma removed from AIDS patients. This herpes virus is most similar to Epstein-Barr virus, another human herpes pathogen. Several other diseases have subsequently been linked to HHV-8. A key issue is how and when people acquire HHV-8 infection. Many human herpesviruses are acquired in early childhood and thereafter have decades long latency period before emerging in mid to late adulthood. The goal of this proposal is to investigate HHV-8 infection in infancy and its route of transmission in neonates born in the United States. The overall goal of this project is to determine the percent of infants who contract HHV-8 infection during the first year of life. These investigators postulate that HHV-8 infection is contracted in the first year of life in more children than previously suspected. In particular, they propose that the infection may be acquired perinatally or in the first few months of life. Presumably maternal blood, secretions in the birth canal, or breast milk would transfer infectivity to the newborn. Oral epithelial cells in the infants mouth are a susceptible cell. Thereafter, the infection would be asymptomatic until late adulthood, unless the person acquired an immunosuppressive condition.