Kidney Damage Due to COVID-19 Infection

Severe covid infection causes kidney dysfunction and kidney damage, states a study conducted at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and is published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Covid-19 is an upper respiratory tract infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus. It affects other organs like the heart,brain, and kidneys. Severe infection can be fatal. The infection has been declared as a pandemic because it has affected more than 33 countries around the world.

‘Severe covid-19 infection causes kidney dysfunction. ’

Kidney Dysfunction
Kidney dysfunction is a silent killer. The symptoms of kidney dysfunction are nausea, less urine output, swelling of legs, fatigue, breathlessness, confusion, and seizures. Early stages of kidney dysfunction can be treated with medications.

The kidney damage due to severe covid infection was mainly seen among men who were above 60 years of age.

According to Al-Aly the director of Clinical epidemiology centre "The risk of decreased kidney function is highest among people who were in the ICU; however, it's important to note that the risk extends to all patients, even those who had milder cases of COVID-19."

People who were not affected or had mild infection were 15% at higher risk of suffering from chronic kidney disease. In acute kidney disease the kidneys no longer effectively remove the waste from the body and the patient would require dialysis or kidney transplant. The risk was higher among patients who were admitted in ICU for covid infection.

"People who were hospitalized for COVID-19 or needed ICU care are at the highest risk," "But the risk is not zero for those who had milder cases. In fact, it's significant. And we need to remember that we don't yet know the health implications for long-haulers in the coming years" says Al-Aly.

The kidney disease should be taken into account while treating patients with severe covid infection.

Source: Medindia