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Molecular epidemiology of KI and WU polyomaviruses in healthy blood donors, south‐eastern France
Author(s) -
Touinssi Mhammed,
Galicher Vital,
de Micco Philippe,
Biagini Philippe
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.23602
Subject(s) - virology , amplicon , biology , polyomavirus infections , molecular epidemiology , jc virus , epidemiology , polymerase chain reaction , gene , virus , genetics , genotype , bk virus , medicine , kidney , progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy , kidney transplantation
The epidemiology of human polyomaviruses KI (KIPyV) and WU (WUPyV) in healthy populations is described poorly in the literature. The frequency of KIPyV and WUPyV viraemia was evaluated in a cohort of blood donors from south‐eastern France. Plasma samples (n = 640) were investigated for the presence of KIPyV/WUPyV DNA using a conserved real‐time PCR detection system (VP2 gene). Three plasma samples (3/640; ∼0.5%) exhibited a positive fluorescence signal, with a low viral load (<500 copies/ml plasma); no additional amplicons were identifiable by agarose gel analysis. Sequencing highlighted the KIPyV origin of the three amplified sequences and the occurrence of point mutations. The sustained detection of KIPyV DNA in two serial samples (9 months) was in favor of a possible persistence of the virus in blood of healthy individuals. Further studies will be needed in order to explore both the prevalence and potential clinical impact of KIPyV/WUPyV on infected hosts. J. Med. Virol. 85:1444–1446, 2013 . © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.