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. 2014 Feb 5:14:58.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-14-58.

Kaposi`s sarcoma associated herpesvirus infection among female sex workers and general population women in Shanghai, China: a cross-sectional study

Tiejun Zhang, Ying Yang, Feng Yu, Yanping Zhao, Feifei Lin, Veenu Minhas, Charles Wood, Na He  1
Affiliations

Kaposi`s sarcoma associated herpesvirus infection among female sex workers and general population women in Shanghai, China: a cross-sectional study

Tiejun Zhang et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Limited information on epidemiologic patterns of KSHV, with none focusing on heterosexual transmission, is available in mainland China. To clarify this, a cross-sectional study was conducted among a group of female sex workers (FSW) and general population women (GW) in Shanghai, China.

Methods: An anonymous questionnaire interview was administrated among 600 FSW and 600 GW. Blood samples were collected and tested for antibodies to KSHV, HSV-2, HIV, syphilis and HBsAg. Correlates of KSHV and HSV-2 were examined using multiple logistic regression analysis.

Results: None of the study participants were tested positive for HIV. The seroprevalence of KSHV, HSV-2 , HBV and syphilis was 10.0%, 52.2%, 12.3% and 10.5%, respectively for FSW, and was 11.0%, 15.3%, 9.8% and 2.8%, respectively for GW. KSHV seropositivity was not associated with syphilis and HSV-2 infection as well as sexual practices among either FSW or GW. Nevertheless, HSV-2 infection among FSW was independently associated with being ever married (OR = 1.59; 95%CI: 1.04-2.45), >5 years of prostitution (OR = 2.06; 95%CI: 1.16-3.68) and being syphilis positive (OR = 2.65; 95%CI: 1.43-4.93). HSV-2 infection among GW was independently associated with an age of >35 years (OR = 2.29; 95%CI: 1.07-4.93), having had more than 2 sex partners in the prior 12 months (OR = 6.44; 95%CI: 1.67-24.93) and being syphilis positive (OR = 3.94; 95%CI: 1.38-11.23). A gradual increase of prevalence with the prostitution time group was also detected for HSV-2 and syphilis, but not for KSHV.

Conclusions: KSHV is moderately and equivalently prevalent among FSW and GW. Heterosexual contact is not a predominant route for KSHV transmission among Chinese women.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Seroprevalence of KSHV, syphilis and HSV2 among female sex workers according to years of prostitution.
Figure 2
Figure 2
KSHV antibody titer among KSHV seropositive participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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