Polyomaviruses in HIV-infected Patients | CDC EID

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Volume 16, Number 9–September 2010
Dispatch
KI and WU Polyomaviruses and CD4+ Cell Counts in HIV-1–infected Patients, Italy
Muhammed Babakir-Mina, Massimo Ciccozzi, Francesca Farchi, Massimiliano Bergallo, Rossana Cavallo, Gaspare Adorno, Carlo Federico Perno, and Marco Ciotti
Author affiliations: Foundation University Hospital Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy (M. Babakir-Mina, G. Adorno, C.F. Perno, M. Ciotti); Istituto Superiore di Sanita’, Rome (M. Ciccozzi, F. Farchi); and University of Turin, Turin, Italy (M. Bergallo, R. Cavallo)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
To investigate an association between KI and WU polyomavirus (KIPyV and WUPyV) infections and CD4+ cell counts, we tested HIV-1–positive patients and blood donors. No association was found between cell counts and virus infections in HIV-1–positive patients. Frequency of KIPyV infection was similar for both groups. WUPyV was more frequent in HIV-1–positive patients.
BK and JC polyomaviruses are known to infect humans (1,2). Recently, the novel KI polyomavirus (KIPyV) and WU polyomavirus (WUPyV) have been identified in respiratory secretions of children with signs of acute respiratory disease (3,4). However, there is little evidence that these viruses are the causative agents of respiratory disease. The pathogenic role of these viruses in immunocompromised patients is also unclear.

In a study that investigated human polyomaviruses in autopsy lymphoid tissue samples from patients who were positive for HIV, KIPyV was detected in 7.1% of immunocompromised patients with AIDS and in 1.8% of nonimmunocompromised controls; WUPyV was detected in 9.5% of patients with AIDS but not in controls (5). We detected KIPyV and WUPyV in 3.2% and 1.6%, respectively, of plasma samples from HIV-1–infected patients (6). To determine an association between infection with KIPyV and WUPyV and CD4+ cell counts, we obtained plasma samples from HIV-1–positive patients having high and low CD4+ cell counts and a group of healthy controls and tested them for these 2 polyomaviruses.


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Suggested Citation for this Article
Babakir-Mina M, Ciccozzi M, Farchi F, Bergallo M, Cavallo R, Adorno G, et al. KI and WU polyomaviruses and CD4+ cell counts in HIV-1–infected patients, Italy. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2010 Sep [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/16/9/1482.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1609.100211