Infection Control News

HHS has deployed 50 Tablo portable kidney dialysis machines and supplies to New York City and Long Island ICUs caring for patients with COVID-19 who have also experienced acute kidney injury, according to an agency press release.

At Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, which accounts for more than 10,000 deaths in the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Osama El Shamy, MD, works with other nephrologists and medical staff trying to make sense of why a growing percentage of patients experience AKI after being hospitalized.

Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied forces during World War II, has been quoted as saying, “In battle, plans are worthless, but planning is indispensable.”

Study findings indicated that although most patients who had insurance before developing end-stage renal disease initiate hemodialysis with a central venous catheter, use of fistula for vascular access demonstrated the lowest risk for subsequent bloodstream infections.

So far this year, 88 nurses have died of COVID-19 as of May 6, according to National Nurses United, or NNU, the largest union of registered nurses in the United States.

The nephrology community has faced unique challenges since increasing numbers of people have become infected with the novel coronavirus, deemed COVID-19.

The presidents of the American Society of Nephrology, the International Society of Nephrology, and the European Renal Association/European Dialysis and Transplant Association have released a joint statement asking international health agencies to meet the increasing demand for dialysis supplies and equipment for kidney patients with COVID-19.

In an article published in Kidney Medicine, nephrologists from Mount Sinai Hospital in East Harlem, New York, outline how they are ensuring that patients who require dialysis receive safe and effective care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The nephrology community, both patients and physicians, are still grappling with recent reports on the possible rationing of ventilators for critically ill patients with COVID-19, including the exclusion of patients with advanced kidney disease. Now we are faced with news suggesting a shortage of dialysis equipment and staff in some cities across the nation due to high rates of acute kidney injury, especially in “hot spots” for COVID-19. That is leading to crucial decisions on how to manage renal replacement therapy in the face of this global health crisis.

Nephrologists from around the globe — and primarily from China as this is where the virus originated — have developed a set of recommendations for the care of pediatric patients undergoing either in-center or home dialysis during the COVID-19 pandemic.