Robert J Biggar

..Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection is common in sub-Saharan Africa, but its distribution is uneven. Transmission occurs during childhood within families by unclear routes...

..Clinicians should be encouraged by the improving prognosis and be diligent about detecting and treating cancer in PWA...

..These trends have led to a shift in the spectrum of cancer among HIV-infected persons...

..We examined the association between mother-to-child human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) transmission and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I types...

..This study analyzed mother-to-child HIV transmission rates by sex and exposure time for babies born to HIV-infected, untreated African women...

..However, only approximately 10% of positive results were confirmed by reverse transcription-PCR, which suggests frequent false-positive results or viral clearance. All sequenced types were genotype 4...

..Cancer risks in persons with AIDS are increased, but risks in elderly persons with AIDS (EPWAs) have not been previously described...

..With more severe immunosuppression, nodular sclerosing HL becomes infrequent, explaining the higher proportion of mixed cellularity HL found in PWAs. Pathogenesis implications are discussed...

..Because persons with more advanced infections have higher antibody titers, they are easier to detect, which may skew our understanding of the epidemiology of HHV-8...

..These findings indicate that birth-canal exposure is not a major contributor to a newborn's risk of HIV-1 infection...

..The incidence of Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and cervical cancer has been declining among persons with AIDS. We investigated the association between cancer risk and CD4 cell count among such persons...

..Our results indicate that EBV infection persists, with virus readily detectable in saliva and buffy coats from persons without apparent symptoms in Africa...

..Detection was associated with K8.1 seropositivity, younger age, and high household density, indicating the importance of in-household person-to-person transmission, likely via saliva...

..CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with KSHV transmission from maternal and nonmaternal sources in KS-endemic regions. Our results also provide evidence for ongoing evolution of the K1 gene in KSHV-infected children...

..We studied the association between HHV-8 seropositivity and transfusion history among children with sickle-cell disease in Uganda, where HHV-8 infection is common in blood donors...

..People with AIDS have heightened cancer risk from immunosuppression. HAART has been available since 1996 and has reduced AIDS-related mortality, but there are few large-scale studies on cancer trends...

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..Thus, given infection, factors intrinsic to HIV-1 are more important than host genetics in viral evolution...

..18% to 28.7/1000 person-months when it was >1.5%. Provirus detection in maternal breast milk predicted transmission months before infection in children was detected by serologic testing...

..We show significantly increased incidence of SCCC among persons with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. The associations with age and geography are in accord with etiological role for ultraviolet radiation in SCCC...

..Additional research is needed to determine whether JCV replication is decreased in individuals with NHL and whether these findings are consistent with an etiologic role for JCV in NHL...

..Also, EBV viral loads were higher in cases than in controls (P = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS: Among individuals with HIV-KSHV coinfection, KSHV viremia identifies a subgroup with extremely high risk for developing KS...

..People with AIDS have an elevated risk for cancer. We studied the relationship between cancer risk and AIDS-related immunosuppression as measured by CD4 count at AIDS onset...

..Lung cancer risk was compared between PWA and the general population and its relationship with immunosuppression was assessed. The likelihood that excess risk is explained by a high prevalence of smoking was also investigated...

..Our findings do not support a role for SV40 in lymphomagenesis among immunosuppressed persons...

..002) in analyses adjusting for age, sex, calendar period and test plate. Our findings suggest that compared to similarly aged children enrolled from the same community, children with BL in Ghana have lower antibodies to SE36 antigen...

..These data suggest an effect of HCV infection on HCC risk among adults with AIDS. On the other hand, NHL risk was not higher for groups in whom HCV infection was prevalent...

..HAM/TSP risk did not differ consistently with common HLA types. Thus, ATL risk, but not HAM/TSP risk, was increased with higher prevalence HLA-B alleles. Perhaps breadth of cellular immunity affects risk of this viral leukemia/lymphoma...

..2; 95% CI, 1.9-9.4). Our data are consistent with the occurrence of HHV-8 transmission within families, from mothers and other relatives to children via nonsexual routes and between spouses via sexual routes...

..Thus, these data suggest that IDUs' risk of acquiring HHV-8, through needle sharing or other behaviors related to injection drug use, is low...

..Notably, non-AIDS-associated NHL incidence has continued to increase steadily through 1998...

..Among 25 unique tumors tested, none was positive for SRY sequence. While our results do not exclude sexual cellular transmission of whole KS cells, they suggest that if it occurs, it is rare...

..6% and 27.8% (P=.76) and 27.7% and 32.8% (P=.21). Receipt of vitamin A improved birth weight and neonatal growth and reduced anemia, but it did not affect perinatal HIV transmission...

..Studies in Europe and America suggest spread through homosexual contact, but evidence of heterosexual spread is inconsistent. We examined the association between HHV-8 and markers of risky sexual activity in Nigeria...

..Our findings suggest that concurrent infection with multiple malaria genotypes may be related to onset of African Burkitt lymphoma...

..To describe the occurrence and characteristics of pleural and peritoneal lymphoma in a large cohort of persons with AIDS in 11 regions in the United States...

..The risk factors and co-factors for sporadic childhood BL are unknown. We investigated demographic and age-specific characteristics of childhood BL (0-14 years) in the U.S...

..0001) for women with > or =25 years since a last birth compared to women having given birth within 4 years. Our findings support that clearance of initiated cells during delivery may be important in endometrial carcinogenesis...

..The heterogeneity of the KSHV strains found in these subjects from Botswana contrasts with the homogeneity of KSHV strains in Amerindians, reflecting differences in the evolutionary history of these populations...

..Thus, at the population level, genetic constitution appears of little importance in the development of IPD and other severe infections...

..We investigated these relationships in persons with AIDS...

..Jaw tumors were characterized by young age and male gender, but presentation has shifted away from facial to mostly abdominal...

..Consequently, we examined whether autoimmune diseases might also be associated with lower CMM incidence and better prognosis...

..001). Pregnancies have limited impact, if any, on subsequent NHL risk in women. Our findings in men need replication, but, if verified, they may reflect lymphomagenesis-associated male subfertility prior to NHL diagnosis...

..4 (95% CI 4.9-29.1) compared with the general population. These results suggest that immune suppression induced by the human immunodeficiency virus increases MCC risk...