Coronavirus disease 2019 is an infectious respiratory syndrome caused by the virus called SARS-CoV-2, belonging to the family of coronaviruses. The first ever cases were detected during the 2019-2020 pandemic. Coronaviruses can cause a common cold or more serious diseases such as Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndromes (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). They can cause respiratory, lung and gastrointestinal infections with a mild to severe course, sometimes causing the death of the infected person. This new strain has no previous identifiers and its epidemic potential is strongly associated with the absence of immune response/reactivity and immunological memory in the world population, which has never been in contact with this strain before. Most at risk are the elderly, people with pre-existing diseases and/or immunodepressed, dialyzed and transplanted patients, pregnant women, people with debilitating chronic diseases. They are advised to avoid contacts with other people, unless strictly necessary, and to stay away from crowded places, also observing scrupulously the recommendations of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. In this article we detail the recommendations that must be followed by the nursing care staff when dealing with chronic kidney disease patients in dialysis or with kidney transplant patients. We delve into the procedures that are absolutely essential in this context: social distancing of at least one meter, use of PPI, proper dressing and undressing procedures, frequent hand washing and use of gloves, and finally the increase of dedicated and appropriately trained health personnel on ward.
Keywords: COVID-19; hemodialysis; prevention; transmission.
Copyright by Società Italiana di Nefrologia SIN, Rome, Italy.