COVID-19 and Dialysis Patients

COVID-19 has infected more than 30,500,000 people worldwide and caused nearly 1,000,000 deaths. Patients with chronic kidney disease are particularly vulnerable to infection and mortality because of associated risk factors including age, race, and comorbid medical conditions like hypertension and diabetes mellitus. High rates of infection stress outpatient dialysis facilities’ patients, staff, and administrators. Home dialysis therapies reduce the risk to patients and staff, especially because of waivers from the Department of Health and Human Services, which reduced the need for patients to travel to dialysis facilities. As a result, patients expressed increased interest in home dialysis. The association of COVID-19 with high rates of acute kidney injury in patients with severe disease places a substantial burden on hospital dialysis programs and has caused shortages of supplies and trained staff in some areas. Shortages have been addressed by using lactate-based and homemade solutions for continuous dialysis therapies. Innovative nephrologists saved lives using techniques like prolonged intermittent renal replacement therapy, which allows one machine to be used by more than one patient, and acute peritoneal dialysis, which avoids the need for dialysis machines and highly trained staff.