Acute kidney failure, occasionally seen during the treatment and after the recovery of coronavirus patients is now a primary cause for chronic kidney failure in the country, experts warned. Timur Erk, head of Turkey Kidney Foundation, says that in the long run, it would increase the number of dialysis patients in need of treatment.
“Studies by medical professionals who are members of our foundation and studies in other countries show that people who suffered from acute kidney damage while they were infected can lapse into kidney failure in the future and may need to hook up to dialysis. In more serious cases, they will require kidney transplants,” Erk said in a statement ahead of World Kidney Day on Thursday. “You should better be careful in your life after recovery. Never think that coronavirus is something like flu that you can easily recover from. It is better not to get infected at all,” he said. He mentioned a study conducted in Canada where it was found that chronic kidney failure risk is eight times higher among coronavirus patients and urged patients to have routine kidney checks after recovery if the virus affected their kidneys.
Coronavirus also poses a serious risk to people with kidney disease and on dialysis who have weaker immune systems.
Though no drugs are available for COVID-19 treatment, most patients recover with drugs used to treat other diseases. Some people recover relatively quickly while others suffer from what is colloquially known as “long COVID.” Long COVID refers to post-recovery symptoms, like fatigue and respiratory failure among patients, as well as chronic pain.
