The Evolving Scenario of COVID-19 in Hemodialysis Patients

Pasquale Esposito (), Daniela Picciotto, Francesca Cappadona, Elisa Russo, Valeria Falqui, Novella Evelina Conti, Angelica Parodi, Laura Mallia, Sara Cavagnaro, Yuri Battaglia and Francesca Viazzi
Additional contact information
Pasquale Esposito: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Daniela Picciotto: Unit of Nephrology, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genova, Italy
Francesca Cappadona: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Elisa Russo: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Valeria Falqui: Unit of Nephrology, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genova, Italy
Novella Evelina Conti: Unit of Nephrology, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genova, Italy
Angelica Parodi: Unit of Nephrology, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genova, Italy
Laura Mallia: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Sara Cavagnaro: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Yuri Battaglia: Department of Medicine, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy
Francesca Viazzi: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 17, 1-12

Abstract: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a rapidly changing disease. Therefore, in this study, to evaluate the evolution of COVID-19 in hemodialysis patients, we retrospectively compared patients affected by COVID-19 during the first pandemic waves of 2020 (from March to December 2020—Group 1) with patients with COVID-19 from September 2021 to February 2022 (Group 2) after the full completion of vaccination. Group 1 was constituted of 44 patients (69.3 ± 14.6 years), and Group 2 of 55 patients (67.4 ± 15.3 years). Among Group 2, 52 patients (95%) were vaccinated. Patients of Group 2, compared with Group 1, were more often asymptomatic (38 vs. 10%, p = 0.002) and reported less frequent fever and pulmonary involvement. At diagnosis, Group 2 showed a significantly higher number of lymphocytes and lower levels of circulating IL-6 (16 ± 13.3 vs. 41 ± 39.4 pg/mL, p = 0.002). Moreover, in Group 2, inflammatory parameters significantly improved after a few days from diagnosis. Patients of Group 2 presented a lower hospitalization rate (12.7 vs. 38%, p = 0.004), illness duration (18.8 ± 7.7 vs. 29.2 ± 19.5 days, p = 0.005), and mortality rate (5.4 vs. 25%, p = 0.008). Finally, responders to the vaccination (80% of vaccinated patients) compared with nonresponders showed a reduction in infection duration and hospitalization (5 vs. 40%, p = 0.018). In conclusion, we found that COVID-19 presentation and course in hemodialysis patients have improved over time after the implementation of vaccine campaigns. However, due to the evolving nature of the disease, active surveillance is necessary.

Keywords: COVID-19; hemodialysis; mortality; SARS-CoV-2; vaccination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/10836/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/10836/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:10836-:d:902456

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().