Infection Control News

A four-dose hepatitis B vaccine regimen conferred almost 90% seroprotection, established high antibody levels and was well tolerated among hemodialysis patients.

A screening device that attaches “in-line” to analyze white blood cell concentration in peritoneal effluent fluid — providing a “healthy,” “caution” or “risk” result at each treatment’s end — had 94% accuracy for infection-caution screening.

Patients who received in-center hemodialysis at facilities in New York City had similar seropositivity rates for SARS-CoV-2 infection as did residents of the same neighborhoods, study results showed.

In the first half of 2020, patients with end-stage kidney disease had a significant increase in all-cause mortality from previous years and a significantly higher hospitalization rate for COVID-19 than the general population, results show.

Research in Israel showed that while patients on maintenance hemodialysis had a “substantial” antibody response to the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech, the response was lower than that seen for those without kidney disease.

Patients with chronic kidney disease who resided in the inner-city expressed similar hesitancy to the COVID-19 vaccine as patients who attended family medicine clinics in the same area, according to a study presented here.

Among patients with chronic kidney disease, use of in-person services was dramatically reduced during the early months of COVID-19 pandemic, which was followed by an incomplete rebound, according to presented data.

A national survey shows patients on dialysis who are hesitant about taking a vaccine for COVID-19 share similar characteristics to those in the general public with the same views, a speaker said.

Incidence of COVID-19-associated acute kidney injury declined between March and November 2020, according to a report that examined temporal trends of the condition at New York City hospitals throughout the pandemic.

Dialysis providers from across the United States were happy to hear last month that the Biden administration approved federal distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to dialysis clinics so they can begin vaccinating patients and staff.