Background: Older age has been described as a potential risk factor for BK virus infection after kidney transplantation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of race and age on incidence of BK viremia among kidney transplant (KT) recipients in a U.S. program with a high percentage of patients of Asian descent.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the incidence of BK viremia in the first year after kidney transplantations performed between January 2015 and October 2016 at our center and evaluated Asian ethnicity and older age as risk factors for BK virus infection using Fisher's exact test for univariate analyses. Only the first episode of BK viremia was included.

Results: One-hundred eleven KTs were performed during the study period and 99 of the 111 KT recipients were monitored for BK viremia. 25% of these patients developed BK viremia. The majority of patients (84%) developed BK viremia within the first 6 months after KT with a median of 125 days (s.d. 54 days) to infection. Asian patients comprised 25% of this cohort, higher than both national and regional averages. 33% of Asian KT patients developed BK viremia compared to 21.6% of non-Asian patients (p=0.27). In our cohort, 31% of KT patients were older than 65 years, among whom 40% developed BK viremia. Among non-Asian patients, older age was associated with BK viremia (p=.007).

Conclusions: Increased age was a risk factor for viremia among Non-Asian patients but not among patients of East Asian or Pacific Islander descent. Immunosenescence among the increasing number of Asian KT patients may differ from patients of other races and warrants further study.

CITATION INFORMATION: Mehta S., Ali N., Lonze B., Stachel A. Impact of Age and Race on BK Viremia among Kidney Transplant Recipients Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

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