Survey for the Presence and Distribution of Human Herpesvirus 8 in Healthy Brain

Brain tissues from both sides of the cerebellum and frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes were collected postmortem from 30 patients for human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) detection by PCR. Overall, 42 of 300 (14.0%) samples were positive, with similar rates for each position. Nineteen patients (63.3%) were positive and showed a significant increase in positivity with age (P = 0.007). The results indicate a neuroinvasive and neuropersistent potential of HHV-8.