Human Herpesvirus 8 in Australia: DNAemia and Cumulative Exposure in Blood Donors

David Speicher; Jesse J Fryk; Victoria Kashchuk; Helen Faddy; Newell W Johnson

doi:10.3390/v14102185

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Human Herpesvirus 8 in Australia: DNAemia and Cumulative Exposure in Blood Donors

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Human Herpesvirus 8 in Australia: DNAemia and Cumulative Exposure in Blood Donors

David Speicher, Jesse J Fryk, Victoria Kashchuk, Helen Faddy and Newell W Johnson

Viruses, Vol.14(10), pp.1-8

2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/v14102185

PMCID: PMC9611601

PMID: 36298740

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Abstract

human herpesvirus 8

Kaposi's sarcoma‐associated herpesvirus

Kaposi's sarcoma

blood donors

transfusion transmission

safety

DNAemia

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV‐8), the causative agent of Kaposi's sarcoma, multicentric Cas‐ tleman's disease and primary effusion lymphoma, predominantly manifests in immunocompro‐ mised individuals. However, infection in immunocompetent individuals does occur. The preva‐ lence of HHV‐8 exposure in blood donors from non‐endemic countries ranges between 1.2% and 7.3%. Nothing was known about the prevalence in Australian blood donors. Therefore, this study investigated the active and cumulative exposure of HHV‐8 in this cohort. Plasma samples (n = 480) were collected from eastern Australian blood donors and were tested for HHV‐8 DNA by qPCR, and for HHV‐8 antibodies by two different ELISAs. Samples initially positive on either ELISA were retested in duplicate on both, and on a mock‐coated ELISA. Any samples positive two or three out of the three times tested on at least one ELISA, and repeat negative on the mock‐coated ELISA, were assigned as repeat positive. None of the 480 samples tested contained HHV‐8 DNA. Serological testing revealed 28 samples (5.83%; 95% CI: 3.74−7.93%) had antibodies to HHV‐8. There was no difference (p > 0.05) in seropositivity between sex or with increasing age. This is the first study to show serological evidence of cumulative HHV‐8 exposure and no HHV‐8 DNAemia within a select blood donor population in Australia. Our molecular and serological data is consistent with pub‐ lished results for blood donors residing in HHV‐8 non‐endemic countries, which shows the preva‐ lence to be very low.

Details

Title: Human Herpesvirus 8 in Australia: DNAemia and Cumulative Exposure in Blood Donors
Authors: David Speicher (Corresponding Author) - Griffith University
Jesse J Fryk (Author) - Australian Red Cross Blood Service
Victoria Kashchuk (Author) - Griffith University
Helen Faddy (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Newell W Johnson (Author) - Griffith University
Publication details: Viruses, Vol.14(10), pp.1-8
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2022
DOI: 10.3390/v14102185
ISSN: 1999-4915
PMID: 36298740; PMC9611601
Copyright note: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Biomedicine; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99680498402621
Output Type: Journal article

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Web Of Science research areas: Virology

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