The reactivation of Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) by SARS-CoV-2 in non-hospitalised HIV-infected patients
type: CreativeWork
description: High exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic, occurred primarily in densely populated, low-income communities which are additionally burdened by a high prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated Herpes Virus (KSHV). SARS-CoV-2 co-infection with herpesviruses has been suggested to have an impact on acute and/or long-term disease progression by triggering their reactivation from latency. We have previously reported that lytic KSHV infection (assessed by blood viral load (VL)) was associated with morbidity and mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients. However, the impact of SARS-CoV-2 exposure on HIV/KSHV co-infected non-hospitalised individuals is currently unknown. We therefore performed a longitudinal observational cross-sectional study (n = 407) on non-hospitalised HIV-infected adult patients attending antiretroviral therapy (ART) services in Gugulethu, South Africa, from October 2020 to April 2023. The start of recruitment for this study coincided with the decline of SARS-CoV-2 infections from the first COVID-19 wave and before nation-wide COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, continuing throughout subsequent waves and vaccine introduction. Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was very high and increased from an initial quarterly 76.2 % seropositivity (before COVID-19 vaccine roll-out) to 94.9 % by the end of the recruitment; 32.2 % of this cohort was self-reportedly vaccinated against COVID-19. The overall KSHV seroprevalence was 53.5 %, with the quarterly percentage of patients with detectable KSHV VL in the peripheral blood increasing from 3.3 % to 69.2 %. When assessing SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and its potential association with KSHV reactivation, we found that KSHV VL presence was significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG antibody titres in unvaccinated patients, and logistic regression revealed significantly higher odds of KSHV lytic reactivation in unvac…
abstract: High exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic, occurred primarily in densely populated, low-income communities which are additionally burdened by a high prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated Herpes Virus (KSHV). SARS-CoV-2 co-infection with herpesviruses has been suggested to have an impact on acute and/or long-term disease progression by triggering their reactivation from latency. We have previously reported that lytic KSHV infection (assessed by blood viral load (VL)) was associated with morbidity and mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients. However, the impact of SARS-CoV-2 exposure on HIV/KSHV co-infected non-hospitalised individuals is currently unknown. We therefore performed a longitudinal observational cross-sectional study (n = 407) on non-hospitalised HIV-infected adult patients attending antiretroviral therapy (ART) services in Gugulethu, South Africa, from October 2020 to April 2023. The start of recruitment for this study coincided with the decline of SARS-CoV-2 infections from the first COVID-19 wave and before nation-wide COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, continuing throughout subsequent waves and vaccine introduction. Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was very high and increased from an initial quarterly 76.2 % seropositivity (before COVID-19 vaccine roll-out) to 94.9 % by the end of the recruitment; 32.2 % of this cohort was self-reportedly vaccinated against COVID-19. The overall KSHV seroprevalence was 53.5 %, with the quarterly percentage of patients with detectable KSHV VL in the peripheral blood increasing from 3.3 % to 69.2 %. When assessing SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and its potential association with KSHV reactivation, we found that KSHV VL presence was significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG antibody titres in unvaccinated patients, and logistic regression revealed significantly higher odds of KSHV lytic reactivation in unvac…
author: Lambarey, Humaira
language: en
keywords: Biochemistry
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:35Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences (IBMS)

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41753