The frequency of human herepes virus type 8 among blood donors and postkidney transplant patients in two specialized centers in Khartoum

Background: Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) is an opportunistic virus proved to be the cause of AIDS associated Kaposi’s sarcoma. Based on the emergence of HIV and its pandemic spread HHV- 8 is expected to participate in increasing the risk of Kaposi’s sarcoma in areas where the rate of infection is high. There is a great need to study the epidemiology of the virus.Objectives: To find out the rate of infection with HHV-8 in Khartoum among blood donors and post-kidney transplant patientsMethodology: Venous blood samples were collected from 90 Subjects (60 blood donors from Elsalam Cardiac Centre (controls) and 30 kidney transplanted patients from IbnSina hospital). The blood specimens were tested for Human herpes virus anti- IgG using ELISA technique.Results: The overall rate of infection with HHV-8 was found to be 2.2%. The highest rate of infection (20%) was in the age group 46 years and more. The seroprevalence of HHV-8 was found to be 6.7% in post-kidney transplant patients. None of the control group proved to be positive for HHV-8.Conclusion: The rate of infection with HHV-8 was found to be relatively lower in the studied group.Key words: Human herpes virus-8, Immuno-compromised patien