Serological and molecular evidence that human herpesvirus 8 is endemic among Amerindians in French Guiana.

Kazanji, Mirdad; Dussart, Philippe; Duprez, Renan; Tortevoye, Patricia; Pouliquen, Jean-François; Vandekerkhove, Julie; Couppié, Pierre; Morvan, Jacques et al. · J Infect Dis · 2005

cross_sectional · Level IV

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Abstract

We evaluated the presence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection among groups of Amerindians in French Guiana. The overall prevalence of antibodies against lytic HHV-8 antigens was 23.0% (180/781), increasing from 18.4% in children <6 years old to approximately 30% in older persons (>45 years). Seroprevalence was higher in Amerindians living in remote localities than it was in those living in the coastal region. Analysis of a 725-base pair fragment of the K1 gene amplified from DNA from a Wayampi Amerindian showed that the virus belonged to molecular subtype E, which has hitherto been found in only a few Amerindians in Brazil and Ecuador.

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