Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious
viral disease that is caused by the novel
virus Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (
SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 has become
pandemic since December 2019, when the first case developed in Wuhan,
China.
Patients receiving
hemodialysis are more vulnerable to viral
transmission because their immune functions are impaired and they receive
treatment within a narrow space. Calling on previous experience with
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome during the 2015 outbreak, the
joint committee of the Korean Society of
Nephrology and the Korean Society of
Dialysis Therapy quickly formed a COVID-19
task force team to develop a manual before the first index case was diagnosed in the
hemodialysis unit. This special article introduces clinical practice guidelines to prevent
secondary transmission of COVID-19 within
hemodialysis facilities, which were developed to protect
patients,
healthcare workers, and
caregivers from this highly transmissible
virus. The areas of
infection control covered by these guidelines include standard precautions, performing
dialysis therapy for confirmed or suspected cases, performing cohort isolation for contact
patients, and
disease monitoring and contact
surveillance. We
hope these guidelines help
healthcare workers and
hemodialysis patients around the world cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.