Risk Assessment of COVID-19 on Patients with Chronic Kidney Diseases in Libya

Abstract

The Sars covid 19 virus is an extremely contagious disease that originated in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.  Widespread panic over the news of the infectious disease quickly followed, and despite most countries inflicting lockdown restrictions, the virus spread nonetheless, reaching over 230 countries and territories as of October 2022. This study is to provide insight into managing CKD patients' with COVID-19, and to declare that the diseases’ outcome was affected by individual factors on Libyan CKD patients. Data of 635 CKD patients were collected from Al-Shatt Road Kidney Diseases Center in Tripoli, from January to September 2020. Statistical analysis was conducted to assess the risk of this pandemic on kidney patients and to evaluate the impact of several related factors: gender, age, and CKD associated diseases. The rate of mortality among CKD patients COVID infected was determined as well. The results of this study showed that 18.5% of CKD patients tested positive for COVID-19, while 81.5% tested negative. The highest number among CKD with COVID-19 were males 58.8% vs female 41.2%. Patients with hypertension and diabetes age >45 were more vulnerable to COVID-19 than other CKD patients. In additions, 74% of CKD patients developed diabetes after COVID 19 infection. The fatality rate of CKD- COVID 19 positive was significantly higher than CKD- COVID 19 negative (29.8 % vs 2.3%) and male’s mortality rate was significantly higher than females, p-value <0.05 through the nine months of observation. Hemodialysis is a significant variable for Corona’s chance of infection. These results may be beneficial for CKD patients who may benefit from appropriate, specialized and efficient medical treatment. Further research considers studding the long-term damage of COVID-19 on public health.