Infection status and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in maintenance hemodialysis patients in Wuhan during the omicron pandemic

Abstract

Maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients are the high-risk population of infection and death of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), our study aimed to investigate the infection status and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in MHD patients at a single-center in Wuhan during the Omicron pandemic. In this retrospective, single-center study, we analyzed the clinical data of all MHD patients in Hemodialysis Center of Wuhan No. 1 Hospital from December 2, 2022 to January 6, 2023 during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron pandemic outbreak. We analyzed the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of deaths and survivors of MHD patients. The infection rate of SARS-CoV-2 in MHD patients was 93.32% (573/614), mortality rate was 8.14% (50/614), hospitalization rate was 23.29% (143/614), and the vaccination rate of COVID-19 was 4.89% (30/614). The median survival time of dead patients was 11 days, the mortality rate of male MHD patients was significantly higher than female. Elderly MHD patients had a higher mortality rate, with a average age of death higher than 70 years old. Additionally, the mortality rate of MHD patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 was higher if the primary disease was hypertensive renal damage or diabetic nephropathy. Laboratory results showed that the lower the albumin level and the higher the C-reactive protein level of MHD patients who died of SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe and critical survival patients. In surviving MHD patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, the most common symptoms were hypodynamia (84.70%), decreased appetite (81.26%) and cough (80.69%). The symptoms of fever, chest tightness and panting, cough, pharyngalgia, hypodynamia, decreased appetite in surviving MHD patients with severe and critical type were significantly higher than those in patients with mild and moderate type. MHD patients are a highly vulnerable population at increased risk of mortality during the Omicron pandemic. Elderly, male, primary disease was hypertensive renal damage or diabetic nephropathy, hypoproteinemia and high C-reactive protein level, all of which will lead to increased mortality in MHD patients.