ABSTRACT
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly affected the provision of medical services. The hemodialysis (HD) facilities together with other medical facilities faced challenges in safely providing clinical care to patients and staff during the pandemic. Objective: To describe our experience during the COVID-19 pandemic as regard infection, mortality rate, clinical manifestations, illness duration and the efficacy of our local infection control measures in our Hemodialysis Unit, Ain Shams University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. Patients and Methods: followed the interim guidance provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) together with the European Renal Association– European Dialysis Transplantation Association (ERA-EDTA) for dealing with the emerging COVID19 pandemic in HD centers. The study included 238 patients on regular HD from Dialysis Unit in Ain Shams University Hospitals. We monitored all patients and staff members for any symptoms or signs of respiratory tract infection and those confirmed to have COVID-19 infection were followed up through their illness. Results: 42 out of total 238 patients were diagnosed to have COVID19 infection by combination of symptoms, chest imaging and SARS COV PCR. Their mean age was 49.8 ± 8.9 years, 19 were males, the mean ± SD total illness duration for all COVID-19 positive patients was 17 ± 8.7. Patients were further subdivided based on survival into cure group (34 patients) and death group (8 patients). CRP and D-dimer were all significantly higher in death group while O2% were significantly lower in death group compared to cure group. Conclusion: COVID 19 pandemic still a major health problem worldwide with significant morbidity and mortality among hemodialysis patients. © 2021, Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine. All rights reserved.