Abstract
Nephropathy caused by the BK virus (BKV allograft nephropathy, BKVAN) is a more frequent cause of renal graft failure and represents the most common viral disease demonstrated in the renal graft biopsy. The etiological agent is the DNA virus BK from the polyomavirus family, causing opportunistic infections in immunocompromised individuals, among them in solid organ transplant recipients on immunosuppressive therapy.
Similarly to EBV and CMV infections it means a serious problem related with excessive immunosuppression. Efforts to deal with them is minimizing immunosuppression.
Although BKV was discovered before more than 40 years ago, there are still uncertainties in access to diagnosis, frequency of testing, treatment and prognosis. This review provides a current view of the state of diagnosis, prevention and treatment BKVAN in kidney transplant patients, regarding to certain specificities of BKV infection in children.