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Abstract: PO0713

Trends in Fever and Respiratory Illness in Hemodialysis Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Session Information

Category: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

  • 000 Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Authors

  • Chaudhuri, Sheetal, Fresenius Medical Care, Global Medical Office, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
  • Han, Hao, Fresenius Medical Care, Global Medical Office, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
  • Larkin, John W., Fresenius Medical Care, Global Medical Office, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
  • Usvyat, Len A., Fresenius Medical Care, Global Medical Office, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
  • Chatoth, Dinesh K., Fresenius Medical Care, North America, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
  • Hymes, Jeffrey L., Fresenius Medical Care, North America, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
  • Kraus, Michael A., Fresenius Medical Care, North America, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
  • Collins, Allan J., Fresenius Medical Care, North America, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
  • Maddux, Franklin W., Fresenius Medical Care AG und Co KGaA, Bad Homburg, Hessen, Germany
Background

Hemodialysis (HD) patients are vulnerable to the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) due to older age and common coexistence of comorbidities. Fever and respiratory illness (RI) are common symptoms of COVID-19. In order to create a disease surveillance tool and anticipate areas of COVID-19 outbreak, we aimed to assess the trends in fever and RI symptoms in HD patients treated at a national dialysis provider network in the United States during the pandemic.

Methods

We used data from HD patients actively treated between Jan 1 2018 ad May 16 2020 at a national dialysis provider network of large integrated health care company. If the body temperature of the patient either before or after the treatment was greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit, then the patient was identified as exhibiting the symptom of fever. If the patient complained of shortness of breath, wheezing, runny nose, bloody cough, dry cough or purulent cough, then in this analysis the patient was identified as exhibiting the symptom of RI.

Results

The total patients count ranged from 196,774 to 209,475 per week while the total count of HD treatments ranged from 413,477 to 454,215. For the year 2020, a clear increase in trend for number of patients was observed after week 11 (03/08-03/14/2020) for RI symptoms (Figure 1A) and week 12 (3/15-3/21/2020) for fever symptom (Figure 1B). Both increasing trends spike at the week 15 (04/05-04/11/2020) and decline thereafter.

Conclusion

HD patients appear to exhibit a different trend in RI and fever symptoms during the year 2020 compared to concurrent periods in 2018 and 2019. which coincides with COVID-19 outbreak. Routine surveillance of dialysis patients may allow for early identification of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Funding

  • Commercial Support –