Prevalence and Risk Factors of Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Infection among Han and Uygur Populations in Xinjiang, China

Abstract

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the causative agent of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), which is endangering human health worldwide, especially in Africa, Europe, the United States, and parts of Asia. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of KSHV in Xinjiang. Three KSHV recombinant proteins (ORF65, ORF73, and K8.1) were used to detect KSHV infection. The serum samples to be tested were detected by an indirect ELISA method. The overall infection rate of KSHV in Xinjiang was 25.60%, with a higher infection rate in the Uygur population of 29.79%. After adjusting for possible confounders, Uygur (OR = 3.95, 95% CI 2.64–6.12, $P<0.001$ ), agriculture and livestock (OR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.20–2.17, $P$  = 0.002), age ≤ 50 years (OR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.13–2.00, $P$  = 0.006), and predominantly meat-based diet (OR = 1.72, 95% CI 1.11–2.78, $P$  = 0.018) were significantly associated with the odds of KSHV seropositivity correlation. Three unique sequences of KSHV were obtained in this study; genotypic analysis showed that the three unique sequences were all subtype A2.