Infection Control News

Implementing evidence-based prevention practices across the nephrology community may be a solution to limiting peritoneal dialysis infections, according to a speaker at ASN Kidney Week.

Panelists opened 2021 ASN Kidney Week by discussing the impact that the COVID-19 virus can have on chronic kidney disease, in addition to how vaccinating vulnerable populations is the best way to end the pandemic.

A patient awaiting a kidney transplant from a living donor was told by a Colorado hospital that the surgery would be on hold until she and the donor were vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus.

Patients with COVID-19 reported experiencing severe genitourinary symptoms during infection, and new or worsening overactive bladder symptoms after recovery, according to recent findings from two studies.

Dialysis facilities “should not be accountable” for patient and staff decisions for getting vaccinated, but information on who is not vaccinated should be disseminated to the public, the Renal Healthcare Association said in a letter to CMS.

Individuals who survived for at least 30 days after contracting COVID-19 — considered the acute phase of the illness — were at greater risk for adverse kidney outcomes, even if the infection was deemed mild, study results showed.

A multinational study illuminates the global impact of COVID-19 on transplantation, with an observed 31% drop in the number of solid organ transplants performed during the first wave of the pandemic compared with the previous year.

Administration of a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine boosted the humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 in patients on maintenance hemodialysis, according to a study in Clinical Kidney Journal.

A study of patients with end-stage kidney disease and COVID-19 revealed those who were from historically underrepresented groups had more than double the mortality rate of their white counterparts.

Although survey results from January 2021 showed 85% of patients on dialysis were willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, a speaker said work is still needed to increase the vaccination rate, with physicians playing an essential role.