Viruria - Virus infections in the urine (e.g. COVID-19)

All information about Viruria - Virus infections in the urine (e.g. COVID-19)

At a glance

Viruria basically describes the presence of viruses in the urine.

In acute viral infections, the virus is usually present in the blood, throat and faeces, but in some cases also in cerebrospinal fluid and urine. Particularly in the case of virus-related infections (especially adenoviruses) in the genitourinary system, viruses can be detected quite well in urine.

Generally, Viruses are detected in the urine in three ways:

  1. Detection of inclusion bodies in the cells of the urinary sediment
  2. Specific immunofluorescence of cells
  3. Isolation of the virus in tissue cultures
Further information

Viral infections in which viruria is more important are:

  • Measles virus
  • Human cytomegalovirus
  • Human adenoviruses
  • Polyomavirus-associated nephropathy (PAN)
  • Enteroviruses (newborn: hepatitis and myocarditis)

Depending on the infection, further transmission by urine can be more or less important. Essential ways are:

  • Lubrication infection
  • Inhalation of the urine aerosol during urication (droplet infection)
  • Drying and spreading of viruses via the air

In the case of animal viruses, these are transmitted by contact with the urine of host animals or by inhalation of the dried-up host urine. For example hantaviruses and arena viruses.

With regard to corona viruses (MERS-CoV, e.g. COVID-19, SARS), there are indeed case reports in which viral RNA of MERS-CoV has been found in the respiratory tract, blood, urine and stool. Although the MERS corona virus is particularly prevalent in the lower respiratory tract, small amounts of virus have been detected in these samples. In recent studies on COVID-19 patients, an influence on kidney function was also found in certain patient groups, including acute kidney damage and proteinuria. The link is currently being investigated in more detail in studies – especially which groups are particularly at risk.

With regard to Medipee Technology, there is no concrete test for these viruses available yet. This is part of development work. However, the pandemic spread of fever-causing viruses could be monitored by measuring the urine temperature across the country. Infection nests could thus be located at an early stage. If a correlation of positive values in the urine of albumin, erythrocytes, leukocytes and COVID-19 is confirmed in certain patient groups, urine monitoring via the Medipee system could also be a suitable approach.

See also:  Blood in urine,  Medication, Did you know?

Sources

  • Chon, W.J. et al. (2016): High-level viruria as a screening tool for BK virus nephropathy in renal transplant recipients. Kidney Res Clin Pract.; 35(3):176–181
  • Hocke, A.C., Becher, A., Knepper, J. et al. Emerging human Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus causes widespread Infection and alveolar Damage in human Lungs. At J Respir Crit Care Med 2013; 188: 882–886
  • Babel, N., Volk, H., Reinke, P. (2011): BK polyomavirus infection and nephropathy: the virus-immune system interplay. Nat Rev Nephrol. v;7:399-406
  • Virus in urine (1967: Br Med J. 1(5533):126
  • Wikipedia, URDs: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virurie, retrieved March 18, 2020
  • The Lancet, DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3009(13)70154-3
  • Su, Hua et al (2020): Renal histopathological analysis of 26 postmortem findings of patients with COVID-19 in China, Kidney International
Status of information: Spring 2020