Human herpesvirus‐8 infection among heterosexual partners of patients with classical Kaposi’s sarcoma

BACKGROUND: DNA sequences of human herpesvirus-8 (HHV8) are found in lesions of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). OBJECTIVES: To verify the hypothesis of the sexual transmission of HHV8 infection. METHODS: We used the immunoperoxidase assay to study the prevalence of serum antibodies to HHV8-related antigens in 27 consorts of patients with classical KS, and in a control group of 25 healthy women. RESULTS: Forty-four per cent of the study group were positive, compared with 8% of the controls. CONCLUSIONS: The sexual route may be one of the possible ways of transmission of the HHV8 virus.