Background and objectives: Dialysis patients have a high burden of co-existing diseases, poor health-related quality of life (HR-QOL), and are prescribed many medications. There are no data on daily pill burden and its relationship to HR-QOL and adherence to therapy.Design, setting, participants, & measurements: Two hundred and thirty-three prevalent, chronic dialysis patients from three units in different geographic areas in the United States underwent a single, cross-sectional assessment of total daily pill burden and that from phosphate binders. HR-QOL, adherence to phosphate binders, and serum phosphorus levels were the three main outcome measures studied.Results: The median daily pill burden was 19; in one-quarter of subjects, it exceeded 25 pills/d. Higher pill burden was independently associated with lower physical component summary scale scores on HR-QOL on both univariate and multivariate analyses. Phosphate binders accounted for about one-half of the daily pill burden; 62% of the participants were nonadherent. There was a modest relationship between pill burden from phosphate binders and adherence and serum phosphorus levels; these associations persisted on multivariate analyses. There was no relationship between adherence and serum phosphorus levels.Conclusions: The daily pill burden in dialysis patients is one of the highest reported to date in any chronic disease state. Higher pill burden is associated with lower HR-QOL. There are many reasons for uncontrolled serum phosphorus levels; increasing the number of prescribed pills does not seem to improve control and may come at the cost of poorer HR-QOL.

Transmission of MRSA among dialysis patients, HCWs and their family members in a dialysis unit could be inferred. Monitoring and eradication of MRSA from patients, HCWs and their family members should be considered to prevent continuous spread between healthcare facilities and the community.

The improvement in outcomes of peritoneal dialysis patients makes a compelling argument for the expansion of the use of the therapy for the treatment of end-stage renal disease in the United States. We think that 20-40% of patients can be treated with peritoneal dialysis. However, any expansion in use should be done gradually and should include training healthcare providers while continuously monitoring patient outcomes.

In 2002, an outbreak of dengue fever (DF) in Taiwan caused mortality in some patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). We report three cases of CRF who died of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) despite an intensive care process. The difficulty in diagnosis and the treatment dilemma attributable to ambiguity in symptoms and signs between CRF and DF may delay the diagnosis, contributing to a high risk of mortality. The narrow window of fluid tolerance in patients with CRF further hampers the success of resuscitation in DHF and DSS. Continuous venous to venous hemodialysis (CVVHD) is helpful in managing a condition with unstable hemodynamics. However, to decrease mortality, the physician must pay great attention to ensure an early awareness of DHF/DSS and deliver a prompt and aggressive treatment of patients of dengue viral infections with chronic renal failure.

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