Scientists have developed a more effective urine test that helps to detect a common cause of kidney transplant failure. According to some experts it would also prove quite effective to diagnose and treat people who have to suffer from polyomavirus nephropathy that is currently affecting almost 9% transplant patients.

In normal healthy adults, these polyomaviruses do not cause any harm, but it can lead to serious problems in people who have a weak immune system. People, who undergo kidney transplant, take different drugs to suppress their immune system to avoid organ rejection.

It is quite important to diagnose the condition as early as possible because there isn’t any set treatment for it. At present, the doctors have to rely on quite costly and invasive kidney biopsies for diagnosing polyomavirus nephropathy, and sometimes even these results couldn’t provide accurate results.

Dr. Volker Nickeleit and team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are the developer of this new test that helps to measure Haufen levels.