Weekly Rapid Antigen Test Screening for COVID-19 in Patients on Hemodialysis.

BACKGROUND/AIM: COVID-19 is a concerning issue among in-center hemodialysis (HD) patients. To prevent COVID-19 diffusion in our HD facility, weekly rapid nasal antigen test screening was performed for all asymptomatic patients on chronic HD. This study aimed to assess the performance of weekly rapid antigen test in detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection among asymptomatic patients receiving HD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted in HD patients who underwent rapid antigen test screening from December 2021 to March 2022. The diagnosis of COVID-19 with rapid antigen test was always confirmed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: During the observational period, 1,748 rapid antigen tests were performed in 220 HD patients. Mean age was 68.4±14.6 years. Fifteen (8.5%) patients resulted positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection using rapid antigen tests. The diagnosis was subsequently confirmed in 14 (93.3%) patients by RT-PCR. During the same period, 12 (5.4%) symptomatic patients, regularly screened with weekly rapid antigen test, resulted positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection using RT-PCR. Overall, weekly rapid antigen test screening identified 14 out of 26 (53.8%) COVID-19 cases and showed a positive predictive value of 93%. CONCLUSION: Weekly antigen test screening of asymptomatic patients on chronic HD detected around half of the COVID-19 cases in our population.

COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Screening in Patients on Hemodialysis.

Introduction: Patients receiving in-center hemodialysis are extremely vulnerable to COVID-19. It is unclear if routine screening of asymptomatic hemodialysis patients is an effective strategy to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks within the dialysis unit. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of in-center hemodialysis patients who underwent bimonthly COVID-19 rapid antigen test screening from February 15th to December 26th, 2021. Nasal rapid antigen testing was performed in all asymptomatic patients. All rapid antigen-positive tests were confirmed by RT-PCR nasopharyngeal swab. Besides universal rapid antigen screening, RT-PCR testing was conducted in all symptomatic patients and contacts of COVID-19 subjects. Results: Overall, 4079 rapid antigen tests were performed in 277 hemodialysis patients on chronic hemodialysis with a mean age of 68.4 ± 14.6 years. Thirty-eight (0.9%) rapid antigen tests resulted positive. Only five (13.8%) positive-rapid antigen tests were also positive by RT-PCR testing. During the same period, 219 patients regularly screened by rapid antigen tests bimonthly underwent 442 RT-PCR nasopharyngeal swabs for clinical reasons. RT-PCR testing yielded a positive result in 13 (5.9%) patients. The time elapsed between PCR and the negative-rapid antigen test was 7.7 ± 4.6 days (range 1.8-13.9 days). At the end of the follow-up, 6.4% of the population on in-center hemodialysis contracted COVID-19, and routine rapid antigen tests detected only 5 out of 18 (27.7%) COVID-19 cases. No outbreaks of COVID-19 were identified within the dialysis unit. Conclusion: Bimonthly rapid antigen screening led to the early diagnosis of COVID-19 in less than one-third of cases. The short incubation period of the new SARS-CoV-2 variants makes bimonthly test screening inadequate for an early diagnosis of COVID-19. More frequent tests are probably necessary to improve the utility of COVID-19 nasal rapid antigen test in patients on hemodialysis.

Reactogenicity of MRNA-1273 Vaccine in Patients on Haemodialysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS mRNA-1273 vaccine (previously known as vaccine Moderna) has shown 94.1% efficacy at preventing COVID-19 illness in the general population. Vaccine-related adverse events (AEs) were usually mild or moderate in intensity and resolved within a few days. Nevertheless, the fear of developing AEs led some patients on haemodialysis to deny vaccination or additional booster doses. No studies have been conducted to evaluate the reactogenicity of the mRNA-1273 vaccine in dialysis patients. To inform public health and clinical practice, we investigated the safety of the mRNA-1273 vaccine in a cohort of patients on haemodialysis. METHOD We conducted a retrospective analysis of in-centre haemodialysis patients without a prior COVID-19 diagnosis who underwent mRNA-1273 vaccine from 1 March to 30 April 2021. mRNA-1273 vaccine was performed in all patients without signs of ongoing infection or COVID-19 who provided written consent from 24 March to 30 April 2021. AEs occurring after the first and the second doses were collected and classified as local or systemic. RESULTS Overall, 126 patients on chronic maintenance dialysis were vaccinated with two doses of mRNA-1273 vaccine. Mean age was 68 (IQR, 54.7–76) years and 53.6% of patients were aged ≥65 years (Table 1). AEs occurred in 57.9% and 61.9% of patients after the first dose and second dose, respectively. The most common AEs were injection-site pain (61.9%), erythema (4.8%), itching (4.8%), swelling (16.7%), axillary swelling/tenderness (2.4%), fever (17.5%) headache (7.9%), fatigue (23.8%), myalgia (17.5%), arthralgia (12.7%), dyspnoea (2.4%), nausea/vomiting (7.1%), diarrhoea (5.6%), shivers (4%) and vertigo (1.6%).Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of haemodialysis patients who underwent RNA-1273 vaccine administrationBasal characteristicsAll patients(n = 126) Age (year)68 (54.7–6) (range)19–92 ≥ 65 years71 (56.3) Males, n (%)71 (56.31) Ethnic origin, n. (%)  Caucasian110 (87.3) African15 (11.9) Hispanic1 (0.8)Etiology of ESRD, n. (%)  Nephrosclerosis54 (42.9) Glomerulonephritis26 (20.6) Diabetes14 (11.1) ADPKD4 (3.2) Nephrotoxic4 (3.2) Pyelonephritis4 (3.2) Interstitial3 (2.4) HIVAN2 (1.6) Others10 (7.9) NA5 (4)HD treatment schedule, n (%)  3 times per week115 (91.2) 2 times per week7 (5.5) 4 times per week4 (3.1)Infectious disease, n. (%)  HBV3 (2.3) HCV3 (2.3) HIV2 (1.5)Time elapsed from the first to the second dose of vaccine, day28 (28–28)Follow-up, day68 (66–70) ESRD, end-stage renal disease;HBV, hepatitis B virus;HCV, hepatitis C virus. The rates of local AEs were similar after the first and second doses (P = .8), whereas systemic AEs occurred more frequently after the second dose (P = .001). Fever (P = .03), fatigue (P = .02) and nausea/vomiting (P = .03) were significantly more frequent after the second dose of the vaccine (Figure 1). Analysis of the data detected statistically significant differences in duration of axillary swelling/tenderness (P = .07) and diarrhoea (P = .02) between the first and second. In both cases, these symptoms lasted longer after the second dose of the vaccine. There were no age-related differences in the rate of AEs between older (≥65 years) and younger participants (18–64 years). Lastly, we noted a lower rate of AEs in hemodialysis patients after the first dose (57.9% versus 84.2%) and second doses (61.9% versus 88.6%) compared to the general population.FIGURE 1: Number of patients who experienced AEs after the two doses. CONCLUSION RNA-1273 vaccine was associated with the development of transient AEs after the first (57.9%) and second doses (61.9%) in patients on haemodialysis. Systemic AEs were more common after the second dose than the first dose of vaccine. The duration of AEs lasted for a few days, without any apparent consequences. These data confirm the safety of the RNA-1273 vaccine in haemodialysis patients and support the promotion of COVID-19 vaccination in h sitant patients.

Reactogenicity of COVID-19 vaccine in hemodialysis patients: a single-center retrospective study.

Introduction: Some hemodialysis patients are reluctant to undergo COVID-19 vaccination for the fear of developing adverse events (AEs). The aim of this study was to verify the safety of the mRNA-1273 vaccine in hemodialysis patients. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of in-center hemodialysis patients who underwent mRNA-1273 vaccine from March 1st to April 30th, 2021. All AEs occurring after the first and the second doses were collected and classified as local or systemic. Results: Overall, 126 patients on chronic maintenance dialysis without a prior COVID-19 diagnosis were vaccinated with two doses of mRNA-1273 vaccine. Mean age was 68 (IQR, 54,7-76) years and 53.6% of patients were aged ≥65 years. During the observational period of 68 (IQR, 66-70) days, AEs occurred in 57.9% and 61.9% of patients after the first dose and second dose, respectively. The most common AEs were: injection-site pain (61.9%), erythema (4.8%), itching (4.8%), swelling (16.7%), axillary swelling/tenderness (2.4%), fever (17.5%) headache (7.9%), fatigue (23.8%), myalgia (17.5%), arthralgia (12.7%), dyspnoea (2.4%), nausea/vomiting (7.1%), diarrhoea (5.6%), shivers (4%) and vertigo (1.6%). The rates of local AEs were similar after the first and second doses (P=0.8), whereas systemic AEs occurred more frequently after the second dose (P=0.001). Fever (P=0.03), fatigue (P=0.02) and nausea/vomiting (P=0.03) were significantly more frequent after the second dose of the vaccine. There were no age-related differences in the rate of AEs. Overall, vaccine-related AEs in hemodialysis patients seem to be lower than in the general population. Conclusion: The RNA-1273 vaccine was associated with the development of transient AEs after the first and second doses in patients on chronic maintenance hemodialysis. They were mostly local, whereas systemic AEs were more prevalent after the second dose. Overall, all AEs lasted for a few days, without any apparent sequelae.