Seroprevalence of Human Herpes Virus 8 (HHV8) Infection among Commercial Sex Workers in Jos

Abstract

A study of HHV8 seropositivity was conducted among commercial sex workers in Jos aimed at determining the prevalence in relation to history of STD, duration of prostitution, age and number of sexual partners per day. Antibodies to HHV8 were detected by enzyme linked - immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Advanced biotechnologies Inc USA) in serum samples of 90 commercial sex workers, 41 (45%) of cases were positive for HHV8, 15 (17%) of the women were HIV Seropositive. Furthermore eight (8) among the HHV8 seropositive women were HIV seropositive given a co-infection rate of 20%. Of the risk factors evaluated, HIV seropositivity and history of sexually transmitted diseases were found to be significantly associated with HHV8 infection using chi’s square.( P < 0.05). However lack of condom use, number of sex partners and duration of prostitution were found not to be significantly associated with HHV8 infection using chi’s square. (P > 0.05.) we expect that this important seroepidemiologic baseline data will become a powerful tool for evaluating interventions and control measures.