Response

Abstract

Manns et al. investigated the seroprevalence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) in blood donors and gynecologic patients from Jamaica. The overall prevalence in the blood donor population was low, 3.6%, which confirms our finding that the seroprevalence of HHV-8 mirrors the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma (1), with the exception of findings in West Africa (2). The observed male-to-female ratio reported by Manns et al. (2.0 : 1) is similar to the ratio of 1.7 : 1 reported by us for the Italian population (1), although another study of HHV-8 distribution in blood donors in Italy indicated that HHV-8 antibodies were distributed equally between men and women (3). It is more interesting that Mann et al. also documented higher HHV-8 seroprevalence rates in older people. Because the prevalence of HHV-8 in Jamaica is low, the number of seropositives analyzed was small.