CKD patients: A high‐risk category for severe COVID‐19

Abstract

The study including 3703 patients with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 revealed that older age, male gender, or having more than two comorbidities were associated with increased morbidity and mortality. We are in total agreement with these findings and want to represent suggested mechanisms that can clarify the results especially regarding chronic kidney disease (CKD) as a comorbidity.As COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) spreads throughout the world, almost every individual is at risk for infection. However, some patients are at risk for severe illness and death. Old age and underlying comorbid conditions were associated with increased COVID-19 severity and mortality. 2 The most important comorbidities were hypertension (HTN) (9.5%-31.2%), diabetes mellitus (8.2%-20%), and other cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (5.6%-40%). Regarding chronic kidney disease (CKD), its prevalence in patients with COVID-19 was 0%-5.6%. Based on this minor percentage, it was uncertain whether CKD should be considered as a true risk factor for COVID-19. Several studies have been conducted to evaluate the correlation between the two pandemics. Although Gerwen et al. 1 study did not document an association between CKD comorbidity and COVID-19 poor outcomes, many studies reported a positive association between CKD and COVID-19 severity and mortality. [3][4][5] The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.