Covid-19 and Kidney Disease

The Covid-19 virus pandemic has been raging around the world including Nigeria for about 2 years. In Nigeria, According to Reuters news agency, as of December 2021, there have been approximately 213,000 infections and almost 3,000 deaths and the very difficult situations involving lockdown of activity to contain the virus last year. Wearing a mask, distancing from one another, washing hands, testing for Covid-19, vaccinations and more recently medications approved to treat active Covid-19 infection have become available. All these measures are still important to protect individuals and the community.

Covid-19 patients can become kidney patients! if you have had Covid-19 infection recently, see your doctor to know if your kidneys have been affected and discuss what can be done

People are more familiar with the more severe and dramatic presentation of severe lung disease leading to death. However, many do not realize that….

1. Covid-19 can present just like a flulike illness, mild fever, body aches

2. Covid-19 from either a severe lung illness or the milder flulike illness can involve the kidney and cause new or worsening kidney disease that persists and is progressive even to the extent of causing kidney failure well after the Covid-19 infection has resolved.

3. Transplant patients need to be careful as the Covid-19 virus can impact the transplanted kidney and the medication to prevent rejection reduces the ability of the body to fight the Covid-19 virus

4. People with what variations in the APOL1 gene which is common in West Africa are at increased risk of kidney damage. Read our earlier blogpost about kidney disease in people with variants of the APOL1 gene here at https://kidneysolutions.wordpress.com/2020/03/21/an-important-genetic-cause-of-kidney-disease-in-nigeria-apol1-mediated-kidney-disease/.

Some of the mechanisms by which the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) can cause kidney damage. Meredith McAdams, Mauricio Ostrosky-Frid, Nilum Rajoraand Susan Hedayati
Kidney360 January 2021, 2 (1) 141-153;

So what can be done to reduce the risk of kidney disease from Covid-19 infection?

1. Ask questions about how your kidneys are doing. Very simple inexpensive tests of blood and urine can be done to check if there is any kidney problem

2. Take your medications for other medical issues you may have . For example don’t stop blood pressure or blood sugar medication unless your doctor tells you to do so

3. Avoid Covid-19 infection in the first place. Wash your hands frequently, wear a face mask, distance from others and get vaccinated.