The COVID-19 infections of kidney dialysis patients were more severe than those of the control persons and their vaccine efficacy was lower, said the Helsinki-Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) in a press release on Wednesday referring to a recent study.
The study showed that COVID-19 vaccinations reduced morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 in dialysis and kidney transplant patients compared to unvaccinated patients.
Patients who had been vaccinated were at half the risk of becoming hospitalized because of COVID-19 compared to unvaccinated patients.
The risk of death decreased significantly with booster vaccines especially in kidney transplant patients. However, the vaccine protection of these patients remained weaker than that of healthy people.
The study led by Professor Patrik Finne and the doctoral dissertation of Bachelor of Medicine Hanna Helanne focused on patients (5,755) in the Finnish Registry for Renal Diseases who were on dialysis or had a kidney transplant. These patients are at greater risk of developing a severe form of COVID-19 compared to healthy people.
The study assessed how the COVID-19 vaccine would prevent hospitalization and mortality in patients receiving renal replacement therapy compared to unvaccinated persons.
Each research subject had 10 control persons of the same age, sex and municipality of residence. During the years of the study 2020–2022, 1,713 kidney patients and 10,702 control persons contracted an infection caused by COVID-19.
COVID-19 vaccinations significantly reduced the risk of kidney patients becoming hospitalized, but not as effectively as in control persons. More than three booster vaccines reduced the mortality rate of kidney transplant patients by 62% compared to unvaccinated patients.
In patients receiving dialysis treatment, 2–3 vaccine doses reduced the risk of hospitalization by 47 per cent and in kidney transplant patients by 50 per cent. In control persons, COVID-19 vaccines prevented three out of four hospitalizations.
- Kidney
- Patient
- COVID-19
- Risk
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
