Fighting COVID-19: The role of a COVID-19 Task Force Team

Abstract

A COVID-19 outbreak in Korean hemodialysis unitsCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly and resulted in nearly 2 billion confirmed cases and more than 4 million deaths worldwide. Accordingly, 198,345 confirmed cases and 2,095 deaths had occurred in Korea, by July 2021. Since we have experience coping with Middle East respiratory syndrome [1,2] and have developed infection control guidelines for hemodialysis (HD) units [3], the Korean Society of Nephrology (KSN) established a COVID-19 Task Force Team (COVID-19 TFT) when the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Korea. As a result, the number of infections in HD units did not increase significantly. Through July 2021, 298 confirmed patients from 147 HD units were diagnosed with COVID-19, including 266 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and 27 healthcare workers (Fig. 1).

COVID-19–related clinical outcomes among Korean hemodialysis patients

“…Although it is difficult to compare unadjusted mortality rates directly across nations, the lower in-hospital fatality rate among Korean HD patients may be due to strict prevention strategies and pre-symptomatic screening [ 1 ]. In addition, the COVID-19 Task Force Team was established under the Korean Society of Nephrology from the very beginning of the epidemic to prevent secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among HD patients [ 9 ]. The COVID-19 Task Force Team not only published a COVID-19 prevention guideline [ 8 ] but also proposed adequate vaccination and treatment policies to the KDCA, which resulted in lower rates of disease incidence and mortality among HD units [ 15 ].…”

“…Meanwhile, the COVID-19 Task Force Team, established under the Korean Society of Nephrology at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, has developed COVID-19 prevention guidelines for HD units [ 8 , 9 ]. Thanks to the adherence to stringent primary prevention strategies in Korea, the overall fatality rate of COVID-19 in the general population has been lower than that in other countries (0.8% vs. 1.5%) [ 10 ].…”

Successful provision of hemodialysis to patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Korea: the role of a cooperative network between public and private medical systems

“…The first cases of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant B.1.1.529 (omicron), which had replaced delta as the dominant variant, were reported in December 2021 in Korea [1]. Although the vaccination rate in ESKD patients was higher than in the general population (>61.4% vs. 36.0% as of December 31, 2021), due to the efforts of the Korean Society of Nephrology (KSN) for priority distribution of vaccines [2,3], the higher transmissibility of the omicron variant remained a threat to ESKD patients, who must undergo hemodialysis (HD) in a confined space.…”