Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Dec 2;16(4):662-675.
doi: 10.1093/ckj/sfac253. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Strategies to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission in hemodialysis centres across Europe-lessons for the future

Marlies Noordzij  1 , Björn Meijers  2 , Ron T Gansevoort  1 , Adrian Covic  3 , Raphaël Duivenvoorden  4 , Luuk B Hilbrands  4 , Marc H Hemmelder  5 , Kitty J Jager  6   7 , Geir Mjoen  8 , Ionut Nistor  3 , Ekaterina Parshina  9 , Giuseppina Pessolano  10 , Serhan Tuglular  11 , Priya Vart  1   12 , Luca Zanoli  13 , Casper F M Franssen  1 ; ERACODA collaborators
Collaborators, Affiliations
Review

Strategies to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission in hemodialysis centres across Europe-lessons for the future

Marlies Noordzij et al. Clin Kidney J. .

Abstract

Background: Early reports on the pandemic nature of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) directed the nephrology community to develop infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance. We aimed to make an inventory of strategies that dialysis centres followed to prevent infection with COVID-19 in the first pandemic wave.

Methods: We analyzed IPC measures taken by hemodialysis centres treating patients presenting with COVID-19 between 1 March 2020 and 31 July 2020 and that completed the European Renal Association COVID-19 Database centre questionnaire. Additionally, we made an inventory of guidelines published in European countries to prevent spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in dialysis centres.

Results: Data from 73 dialysis units located in and bordering Europe were analyzed. All participating centres implemented IPC measures to mitigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 during the first pandemic wave. Measures mentioned most often included triage with questions before entering the dialysis ward, measuring body temperature, hand disinfection, masking for all patients and staff, and personal protective equipment for staff members. These measures were also recommended in most of the 14 guidelines that were identified in the inventory of national guidelines and were also scored as being among the most important measures by the authors of this paper. Heterogeneity existed between centres and national guidelines regarding the minimal distance between dialysis chairs and recommendations regarding isolation and cohorting.

Conclusions: Although variation existed, measures to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 were relatively similar across centres and national guidelines. Further research is needed to assess causal relationships between measures taken and spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; centre practices; guidelines; hemodialysis; virus transmission.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

I.N. is member of the CKJ Editorial Board. The other authors state that there is no conflict of interest. The results presented in this paper have not been published previously in whole or part, except in abstract format.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Centre-related risk factors for viral transmission and strategies used to prevent transmission (% yes) in dialysis centres treating haemodialysis patients with COVID-19 during the first pandemic wave (N = 73).
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Map of Europe indicating which countries reported to have a guideline for the prevention of COVID-19 transmission in dialysis centres (dark blue). Countries in which a national guideline was not available are depicted in red.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hilbrands LB, Duivenvoorden R, Vart Pet al. . COVID-19-related mortality in kidney transplant and dialysis patients: results of the ERACODA collaboration. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2020;35:1973–83. 10.1093/ndt/gfab028 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jager KJ, Kramer A, Chesnaye NCet al. . Results from the ERA-EDTA Registry indicate a high mortality due to COVID-19 in dialysis patients and kidney transplant recipients across Europe. Kidney Int 2020;98:1540–8. 10.1016/j.kint.2020.09.006 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Basile C, Combe C, Pizzarelli Fet al. . Recommendations for the prevention, mitigation and containment of the emerging SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic in haemodialysis centres. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2020;35:737–41. 10.1093/ndt/gfaa069 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meijers B, Messa P, Ronco C.. Safeguarding the maintenance hemodialysis patient population during the Coronavirus disease 19 pandemic. Blood Purif 2020;49:259–64. 10.1159/000507537 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Noordzij M, Duivenvoorden R, Pena MJet al. . ERACODA: the European database collecting clinical information of patients on kidney replacement therapy with COVID-19. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2020;35:2023–5. - PMC - PubMed