What is BK and JC virus?
In summary, BK and JC viruses are ubiquitous human polyomaviruses with varied clinical presentation. Primary infection in childhood is usually associated with mild clinical illness, but the impact of these polyomavirus infections in immunosuppressed patients remains a significant concern.
What are the symptoms of BK polyomavirus?
Changes in the color of your urine (urine that is brown or red in color)
What is a BK infection?
A BK virus (BKV) infection is a common viral infection that usually does not cause problems. The BK virus may be spread if you have contact with infected blood or body fluids, such as saliva. It can spread from one person to another during an organ transplant or from a mother to her baby during delivery.
How is polyomavirus spread in humans?
Since most humans are infected with JCV and BKV, these data indicate that the ingestion of contaminated water or food could represent a possible portal of entrance of these viruses or polyomavirus DNA into the human population.
Where does JC virus come from?
The high prevalence of JCV in urine and in sewage and the stability of the viral particles observed suggests that contaminated water, food, and fomites could be the vehicles of JCV transmission through the oral route.
Is BK virus fatal?
In rare instances, patients can die from BK virus associated diseases. BK virus associated nephropathy is associated with transplanted kidney graft loss in 1-10% of patients with nephropathy.
Is there a cure for BK virus?
BK virus, first isolated in 1971, is a significant risk factor for renal transplant dysfunction and allograft loss. Unfortunately, treatment options for BK virus infection are limited, and there is no effective prophylaxis.
How is JC virus treated?
There is no effective antiviral therapy for preventing or treating JCV infections or PML. The main approach to treatment is to preserve immune function and reverse HIV-associated immunosuppression with effective ART.
What causes polyomavirus?
The human polyomaviruses BKV and JCV are known to cause, respectively, hemorrhagic cystitis in recipients of bone marrow transplantation and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in immunocompromised patients, for example, by HIV infection.
Where does polyomavirus come from?
The polyomaviruses are small DNA viruses that can establish latency in the human host. The name polyomavirus is derived from the Greek roots poly-, which means “many,” and -oma, which means “tumours.” These viruses were originally isolated in mouse (mPyV) and in monkey (SV40).
How do you treat polyomavirus?
There is no specific antiviral therapy for polyomaviruses. Currently, treatment is largely supportive and involves reduction in the doses of immunosuppressive agents. However, this approach requires close follow-up because it may lead to subsequent graft failure resulting from acute cellular rejection.
Is JC virus a STD?
The John Cunningham (JC) virus is a common and usually harmless virus. In rare cases, however, it can have a severe impact on people with multiple sclerosis (MS). At least half of all adults have the JC virus in their system. In most people, it is dormant and does not directly cause health problems.
What is a high level of BK virus?
A high level of BK viruria (≥ 25 million copies/mL) was found in 110 (30.1%) patients. At least 1 blood or biopsy BK test was available for all patients. Blood tests for BKV DNA were available for 361 patients, and 52 (14.4%) were positive.
How long does BK virus last?
Mild cases of BK virus-associated hemorrhagic cystitis usually resolve spontaneously over a 2-week period with supportive care. With significant bleeding, severe urinary tract obstruction may occur because of clot formation.
How long can you live with the JC virus?
If it’s not treated PML can cause death as soon as a month after someone gets sick, though people may live up to a year (rarely two).
What does a positive JC virus test mean?
If the blood test finds JC virus (JCV positive), this indicates that you are at a higher risk of developing PML, although for most people the risk is still small.
What is the treatment for BK virus?
BK virus proliferation is well controlled by the host cellular immune response. Therefore, currently, the best treatment is reduction in immunosuppression to restore the host cellular immune response.
What is polyomavirus effect?
The polyomavirus cytopathic effect (BK-CPE) is a well-recognized finding in urinary cytology. 3. Although cytology is valuable in assessing whether BK-infected cells are present in urine specimens, BK-infected “decoy cells” can mimic HGUC owing to the morphologic overlap.
What is Pacheco’s disease?
Pacheco’s disease is caused by a herpes virus. Many species of birds are susceptible. Cockatoos and Amazon parrots are very susceptible to the infection and usually die, whereas conures, such as the Nanday and Patagonian Conures seem to be resistant to the disease.