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The statement by Lebbe et al 1 that the detection of human herpesvirus (HHV) 8 sequences in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is related to the tumor burden seems hazardous. This conclusion is contrary to all we know of HHV biological behavior. For none of the HHVs has the amount or even the existence of latently infected cells been correlated with a clinical disease or viral diffusion in other tissues. Indeed, some, if not all, of the known HHVs are carried by PBMCs in healthy individuals. For example, in Italy, using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we recently detected HHV-7 DNA sequences in PBMCs in 11 (44%) of 25 healthy individuals.2 As for HHV-8, its sequence has been detected in the blood of healthy individuals. This virus is so widespread that in the American population approximately 25% of adults and 2% to 8% of children

REPORT OF A CASE A 67-year-old woman presented for an array of small red lesions. The number of lesions increased during the weeks before her presentation; a few of them had been present for years. She suffered from epistaxis for 5 months. Blood flow was so copious that she was hospitalized; no definite diagnosis had been made there. The bleeding contributed to her poor general condition, for which she received many transfusions. She denied any similar condition in her family. On examination, some small telangiectases were seen on her face, trunk, limbs, palms, and periungual areas (Fig 1). They were more numerous on the nasal and conjunctival mucosa. The mucosa of the lips, gums, tongue, and the entire mouth was also involved (Figs 2 and 3). Routine laboratory tests revealed the following results or values: hypochromic microcytic anemia (erythrocytes, 3.4×10 9 /L, with hemoglobin, 0.79; hematocrit, 0.27; and mean corpuscular