BK Virus Nephropathy — Polyomavirus Adding Insult to Injury

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Abstract
Viruses are particularly troublesome pathogens in transplant recipients. Viral infections enhance susceptibility to opportunistic infection both by causing tissue injury and by contributing to systemic immunosuppression.1 Such infections increase the rate of graft rejection and the risk that cancer will develop. The problem of viral infection in transplantation reflects the intricate balance between lifelong viral infection in tissues, the host's antiviral immune function, and the level of immunosuppression required to maintain graft function.The likelihood that latent viral infection will be activated is a function of the microbiologic features of the specific virus, the presence of stimuli for the activation . . .