Search

Introduction: The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection control on other infections in patients with dialysis has not received sufficient consideration., Methods: We compared hospitalization and mortality rates among patients who underwent hemodialysis (HD) at three dialysis centers before (March 2018-February 2020) and during (March 2020-February 2022) the COVID-19 pandemic., Results: This study included 1696 patients undergoing HD (mean age, 70 years; 1099 men). Compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency hospitalization rate (per 100 dialysis patient-years) for non-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) respiratory infectious diseases (IDs) (7.0 vs. 4.1, p < 0.001) significantly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas the hospitalization rates for other IDs were comparable. The mortality rates for non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory IDs were comparable before and during the COVID-19 pandemic., Conclusions: Hospitalizations for non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory IDs among patients undergoing HD may have decreased owing to the implementation of infection control measures for COVID-19., (© 2023 International Society for Apheresis and Japanese Society for Apheresis.)

Introduction: Predictive markers and prognosis remain unclear in hospitalized hemodialysis (HD) patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the Omicron epidemic., Methods: We evaluated characteristics, laboratory parameters, and outcomes in hospitalized HD patients with COVID-19 (n = 102) at two centers between January and April 2022., Results: The 30-day mortality rate was higher in moderate-critical group (n = 43) than mild group (n = 59) (16.3% vs. 1.7%; p = 0.007), and higher in patients with lower CC chemokine ligand 17 (CCL17) levels (<95.0 pg/mL) compared with normal CCL17 levels (19.0% versus 4.9%; p = 0.03). In multivariate analyses, a low CCL17 level (p = 0.003) was associated with moderate-critical conditions, and moderate-critical conditions (p = 0.04) were associated with 30-day mortality, whereas CCL17 was not associated with 30-day mortality., Conclusions: COVID-19 remains a fatal complication, and CCL17 was a predictive marker of severity in hospitalized HD patients during the Omicron epidemic., (© 2023 International Society for Apheresis and Japanese Society for Apheresis.)

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) is a fatal complication in the general population. However, there are few reports on CAPA in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). Methods This retrospective observational cohort study was conducted at a single center between December 2020 and June 2021. We enrolled 21 HD patients with COVID-19 undergoing treatment and divided them into two groups, CAPA and non-CAPA (COVID-19 with and without pulmonary aspergillosis), and evaluated their characteristics, clinical outcomes and comorbidities. Results The log-rank test revealed that the 90-day survival rate after the initiation of treatment for COVID-19 was significantly lower in the CAPA (n  = 6) than in the non-CAPA group (n  = 15) (P = 0.0002), and the 90-day mortality rates were 66.6% and 0% in the CAPA and non-CAPA groups, respectively. In the CAPA group, four patients died due to respiratory failure (on Days 6 and 20), gastrointestinal bleeding (Day 8) and sepsis (Day 33); the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remained positive when they died. The remaining two patients survived and the negative conversion of RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed on Days 10 and 15. The negative conversion of serum (1, 3)-β- d -glucan (BDG) was confirmed on Day 15 in one patient; the BDG remained positive on Day 64 in the other. Conclusions CAPA is a fatal complication in HD patients and the general population. Therefore, clinicians should consider the possibility of testing for CAPA in patients undergoing HD. Mycological workups may be helpful for the early detection of CAPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]