COVID-19
COVID-19 has had a devasting impact on the over three million kidney patients undergoing dialysis. Dialysis patients have specific circumstances that lead to an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Most patients need to receive in-center hemodialysis (ICHD), which forces them to travel to a dialysis center three times a week and attend dialysis sessions for at least 3-4 hours surrounded by 20 (or more) other patients, as well as staff members. Consequently, dialysis patients are up to 20 times more at risk of contracting the SARS CoV2 infection than the general population.
In addition to being exceptionally vulnerable to infection because they cannot self-isolate, people receiving ICHD who develop COVID-19 have a much greater risk of dying. The higher risk of death from COVID-19 is also observed in non-elderly patients on dialysis, with exceptionally high mortality rates exceeding rates observed in the elderly population. A 40-59-year-old dialysis patient, who contracts COVID-19, has a 94-fold increased risk of dying than patients who are not on dialysis (after adjusting for age).
The ISN has been advocating to prioritize the vaccination of patients with advanced chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis. The ISN has published The urgent need to vaccinate dialysis patients against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: a call to action and has written to the WHO requesting its support in convincing policymakers worldwide to do so.
As part of this global campaign, the ISN has held the webinar, “Prioritization of Dialysis Patients in National Covid-19 Vaccination Programs – Lessons Learned from Successful Campaigns,” on March 9, 2021, highlighting the methods and results from campaigns carried out in Italy, Lebanon, Romania, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay, which led to government policies prioritizing the vaccination of dialysis patients in those countries. You can watch the webinar here.
News
Webinar Presents Key Elements of ISN Member Campaigns Leading to Dialysis Patient Prioritisation in National Covid-19 Vaccination Programs
As part of ISN’s global campaign to prioritize COVID-19 vaccinations for the three million patients worldwide currently undergoing dialysis, the ISN held the webinar, “Prioritization of Dialysis Patients in National Covid-19 Vaccination Programs - Lessons Learned from Successful Campaigns,” on March 9, 2021. The webinar highlighted methods and results from campaigns carried out in Italy,...
Global Kidney Organizations Urge Governments to Prioritize Delivery of COVID-19 Vaccine to Dialysis Patients.
The presidents of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA-EDTA), and the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) have urged the immediate prioritization of COVID-vaccine distribution to people undergoing dialysis treatment in dialysis units worldwide. Kidney failure patients cannot live without dialysis and are more at risk of...
Register COVID-19 cases on the CORONATION Registry
The CORONATION registry continues to recruit worldwide. Any COVID-19 case is eligible. We are particularly keen to collect information on patients with chronic kidney disease, kidney transplants, or those receiving dialysis. Our web-portal is simple to use: You can quickly register a case and then come back up to 12 months later to fill in...
ISN Calls for Urgent Prioritization of Dialysis Patients in COVID-19 Vaccination Programs
The ISN has written to the WHO requesting its support in convincing policymakers worldwide to immediately prioritize the vaccination of patients with advanced chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis. The request has been made in light of the recent ISN paper published in Kidney International, “The urgent need to vaccinate dialysis patients against SARS-CoV-2: A...