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Vol 17, No 1 (2024)
Review paper
Published online: 2024-04-02

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The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic among hemodialysis patients

Aleksander Och1, Leszek Tylicki1
DOI: 10.5603/rdatf.98363
Renal Disease and Transplantation Forum 2024;17(1):1-10.

Abstract

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019 and early 2020 came abruptly causing a significant challenge to the entire world. The number of infections and deaths reached unprecedented levels. Among the most vulnerable to infection and death were patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis, who, on one hand, could not limit their social interactions, and on the other hand, were burdened with numerous coexisting diseases and exhibited compromised immune systems. The development of the first vaccines and the prioritized vaccination against COVID-19 for almost the entire dialysis population saved thousands of patients. The pandemic period, despite its immense tragedy, offers valuable lessons for the future, both in terms of established response strategies and temporary precautionary measures, as well as in reinforcing the conviction of how effective vaccinations are in overcoming infectious diseases, especially in a population as vulnerable as dialysis patients. In this paper, we summarize this challenging period, largely based on our own research conducted at the dialysis center in Gdańsk.

Keywords: COVID-19SARS-CoV-2chronic kidney diseasehemodialysis.

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