27 Jun 05

Laurence Gibson, Positive Nation

HIV-infected patients who also carry human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) are at much greater risk of developing Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), a new report has found.

KS is a rare skin cancer found predominantly in Aids patients.

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute took annual blood samples from HIV-infected men over a period of seven years - and during the study 31 men developed KS. 

It was found that men with HHV-8 in their blood were nearly 12 times more likely to be diagnosed with KS than men who did not.

The authors noted in their article that men with HHV-8 should possibly be treated with antiviral drugs that will combat KS.

The full article (“Detection and Quantification of Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus to Predict Aids-Associated KS) can be found in the August edition of AIDS.

In the editorial review of the same journal, Nicole Dukers and Giovanni Rezza examined previous studies tracking the spread of HHV-8.

They concluded that spread of HHV-8 by blood is probably rare in the western world. 

“However, blood-borne transmission is a possibility that must be considered in high endemic countries,” they noted.