Nephrology Unit, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Laboratory of Nephrology, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Blood Purif. 2020;49(3):259-264. doi: 10.1159/000507537. Epub 2020 Apr 1.
The World Health Organization has recognized the pandemic nature of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) outbreak. A large proportion of positive patients require hospitalization, while 5-6% of them may need more aggressive therapies in intensive care. Most governments have recommended social separation and severe measures of prevention of further spreading of the epidemic. Because hemodialysis (HD) patients need to access hospital and dialysis center facilities 3 times a week, this category of patients requires special attention. In this editorial, we tried to summarize the experience of our centers that hopefully may contribute to help other centers and colleagues that are facing the coming wave of the epidemic. Special algorithms for COVID-19 spreading in the dialysis population, recommendations for isolation and preventive measures in positive HD patients, and finally directions to manage logistics and personnel are reported. These recommendations should be considered neither universal nor absolute. Instead, they require local adjustments based on geographic location, cultural and social environments, and level of available resources.
世界卫生组织已确认 19 冠状病毒疾病（COVID-19）疫情的大流行性质。很大一部分阳性患者需要住院治疗，而其中 5-6%的患者可能需要在重症监护室接受更积极的治疗。大多数政府都建议社会隔离和采取严厉措施防止疫情进一步传播。由于血液透析（HD）患者每周需要到医院和透析中心接受 3 次治疗，因此这一类患者需要特别关注。在这篇社论中，我们总结了我们中心的经验，希望这有助于其他中心和同事应对即将到来的疫情浪潮。本文报道了 COVID-19 在透析人群中的传播的特殊算法、对阳性 HD 患者的隔离和预防措施的建议，以及管理后勤和人员的方向。这些建议既不是普遍的，也不是绝对的。相反，它们需要根据地理位置、文化和社会环境以及可用资源的水平进行局部调整。
