Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 14 Dec 1995
The doctors at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said their findings explained why Kaposi's sarcoma was common in homosexual men but not other AIDS victims.
Tests on 33 homosexual men infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS found that 21, or 64 percent, had a virus known as Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) in their semen.
Of these, 43 percent went on to develop Kaposi's sarcoma, the report in the Lancet medical journal said.
Seven samples from 30 healthy donors also had KSHV, but none of them went on to develop Kaposi's sarcoma.
"Our results suggest a potential sexual route of transmission for KSHV," the doctors wrote.
They said more tests were needed to see if KSHV was a latent virus that was activated when HIV infection started depressing the immune system.
AIDS victims die when the HIV virus weakens their immune systems to the extent that they succumb to illnesses such as pneumonia or cancer.
British scientists said in September they had almost certainly proved that KSHV caused Kaposi's sarcoma.
Kaposi's sarcoma was once a rare cancer, a tumour affecting the blood vessels and causing dark lesions on the skin.
It developed mainly among middle-aged men of Mediterranean origin, but became very common in AIDS victims.
It is related to other herpes viruses, which cause cold sores, shingles and a painful form of venereal disease.
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