UF CPP Infectious Diseases Practice Test

Kaposi sarcoma is driven by infection with HHV-8, the Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpesvirus. This virus directly infects endothelial cells and, through its oncogenic proteins, promotes the vascular proliferation that creates the characteristic lesions. HIV infection increases the risk by weakening immune surveillance, but it is not the causative agent itself. The other viruses listed are linked to different diseases: HPV with warts and cervical or other cancers, and EBV with Burkitt lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. So the virus most consistently associated with Kaposi sarcoma is HHV-8.