Seroprevalence of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus in healthy adults in Israel

Abstract

To determine if Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) prevalence is correlated with the 9-fold difference in the incidence of classic Kaposi's sarcoma observed among Israeli Jewish populations, we conducted a cross-sectional KSHV seroprevalence survey in a population of 166 HIV-seronegative healthy subjects from the general population (26 women, 140 men). Eight individuals (4.8%) (all men) were seropositive for KSHV; differences between men and women were not statistically significant. If we consider the sensitivity and specificity of the assays, the corrected prevalence would be 6.1% (95% confidence interval 2.0-10.1). We noticed a non-statistically 5.5-fold difference between individuals above and below 40 years of age, but did not find an association with the incidence of classic KS among the Israeli Jewish sub-population, according to their origin. This suggests that KSHV is only necessary, albeit not sufficient, cause of classic Kaposi's sarcoma.