Contents - College of Medical and Dental Sciences - University of ...

The 11 th International Workshop on KSHV & Related Agents, Birmingham, UK
Clinical & Epidemiology Abstract 48
PASSIVE TRANSFER OF HHV-8 ANTIBODIES FROM BLOOD DONORS TO
TRANSFUSION RECIPIENTS AND POSSIBLE PROTECTION FROM HHV-8
INFECTION
Ashley L. Fowlkes 1 , Cedric Brown 1 , Minal M. Amin 1 , John Roback 2 , Robert Downing 3 , Esau
Nzaro 4 , Jonathan Mermin 5 , Wolfgang Hladik 3 , Sheila C. Dollard 1
1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA. 2 Emory University
School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 3 Global AIDS Program, CDC, Uganda; 4 Mulago Hospital,
Kampala, Uganda 5 Coordinating Office for Global Health, CDC Kenya
Abstract
Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) has been found to be transmissible by blood transfusion.
Examination of serially collected serum specimens from patients following blood
transfusion with HHV-8 seropositive blood revealed that antibodies to HHV-8 appeared in
several patients following transfusion then declined rapidly over a matter of weeks. The
source of this antibody was determined to be the transfused blood. We compared the
frequency of passive antibody transfer by donor serostatus, the frequency of HHV-8
infection in the absence of passive antibody, and evaluated the risk of infection as a
function of the number of seropositive transfusions and recipient antibody levels. Of 542
recipients included, passive antibody was found in 69% of patients transfused with high
antibody titer blood. Patients who received multiple HHV-8 seropositive transfusions and
those with highest levels of anti-HHV-8 antibodies were least likely to contract HHV-8
infection from transfusion. Our study indicates that HHV-8 antibody is passively
transferred by blood transfusion, waning within 40 days. Furthermore, higher levels of
HHV-8 antibody in donor blood may have conferred protection from infection in
transfused patients, or indicated donors less likely to have infectious virus in the blood.
Presenting author Email: sgd5@cdc.gov
75