COVID-19 Infection in Kidney Transplant Recipients in Italy: Management Issues in a Kidney Transplant Center

• Published in: Experimental and clinical transplantation 2021-03, Vol.19 (3), p.284-286
• Main Authors: Sarno, Gerardo, Russo, Enrico, Ferrara, Aristide, Cerbone, Vincenzo, Villa, Rachele
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Tıp
• ISSN: 1304-0855; 2146-8427
• DOI: 10.6002/ect.2020.0151

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), first detected at the end of 2019 in China,1 is a worldwide pandemic burden. Globally, as of December 16, 2020, there have been more than 71 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including over 1.6 million deaths, as reported by the World Health Organization.2 Italy was the first European country to be substantially affected by the spread of COVID-19 outside of China; as December 16, 2020, the total number of assessed cases in Italy was about 1.9 million with about 66 537 deaths (although not yet confirmed upon certification of cause of death by the “Istituto Superiore di Sanità”), thus highlighting a presumed death rate of 3.4%.3 With the spread of the virus through the population, kidney transplant (KT) recipients are also at risk of infection and development of COVID-19 disease. In Italy, at present, there are about 26 500 KT patients who are regularly being followed,4 and transplant profes - sionals must give extra efforts for the best standard of care for this more fragile cohort of patients.