According to a kidney specialist interviewed by RFI on April 13, some patients with Covid-19 have developed serious kidney problems when they had not previously suffered from any pathology.
If the Covid-19 reveals itself a little more each day, the possible extent of its damage remains unknown. It has been learned that people with coronary artery disease or high blood pressure are at higher risk of contracting the disease and developing severe symptoms, which can lead to hospitalization. In addition, the researchers found that the new coronavirus could cause heart damage even in patients with no heart problems.
We are now learning that the virus could also cause kidney problems in patients who did not previously have kidney problems, with long-term consequences.
“The virus is found in the kidney, there are several scientific publications on this subject. In many cases, these patients, who have never had kidney disease before, develop severe kidney damage. Depending on the severity and duration of infection during their fight against Covid-19, these patients may develop chronic kidney disease, ”
Brad Rovin
Brad Rovin is director of the department of nephrology at the State University of L ‘Ohio (United States).
The professor cites a Chinese study stating that many patients have significant amounts of protein and blood in their urine, « which again suggests that the virus directly reaches the kidney. »
Patients with severe renal failure do not have the same immune system as others
Logically, if patients who did not previously have kidney problems can develop them after being affected by Covid-19, people who are already frail at this level are more likely to develop a severe form of kidney disease. sickness. Either patients with diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease, conditions that can lead to kidney failure, the need for dialysis or a transplant.
“In addition, patients with severe kidney failure do not have the same immune system as others. They are also patients for whom social distancing is impossible: many are forced to go to the hospital three times a week for dialysis and end up in beds next to each other. All of this creates an explosive cocktail to make our patients particularly at risk in the face of this pandemic, ”explains Brad Rovin.
Avoid going outside
Since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, people with chronic kidney problems have been considered « frail people » and are encouraged to stay in containment as much as possible. In an updated file on Monday, April 13, the French National Authority for Health (HAS) reminds that dialysis and transplant patients “must respect confinement strictly: avoid any outing, including shopping for shopping, avoid contact with outside people. Since the dialysis or transplant patient is at risk of developing severe forms of the disease, he may be off work. Ensure the total containment capacity of loved ones living under the same roof as the patient (if telework is not possible, suggest work stoppages). ”
In Saint-Denis, in the Paris region, a 30-year-old young woman from Polynesia with renal failure recently died from Covid-19. According to Overseas La Première, the young woman, had started hemodialysis treatment in New Caledonia and had moved to Metropolitan France in 2017 for a kidney transplant. She is said to have contracted the disease just over two weeks ago. She was hospitalized and, after a brief improvement in her condition, is said to have died on April 13.
Chronic renal failure , often caused by diabetes or high blood pressure, is characterized by reduced functioning of the kidneys, which no longer properly filter the body’s blood.
Acute renal failure can occur on previously normal kidney function, for example due to severe dehydration, serious infections or exposure to kidney toxicants. It can also complicate the course of chronic kidney disease.
It is characterized by a sudden stop in the functioning of the two kidneys. No longer supplied with enough blood, they stop working properly. They can no longer balance water and ions in the body and remove waste from the body. Ultimately, this can lead to death.
Dermatologists alert to possible skin symptoms
New fact: skin lesions could appear in the event of infection with covid-19, warns the National Union of Dermatologists-Venereologists (SNDV) in a press release. « A WhatsApp group of more than 400 dermatologists (liberal and hospital-university), organized by the SNDV, highlighted skin lesions, associated or not with signs of Covid », explains the SNDV. Hives, frostbite and redness could therefore appear in the event of contamination.
Redness, swelling and pain
“We have discovered a rather particular phenomenon in certain patients who have acrosyndromes, that is to say an aspect of frostbite at the level of the extremities, these are redness at the level of the fingers, swelling, transient pain which correspond to what you can feel in winter sports when it is cold and in fact, this sign often goes unnoticed ”
Luc Sulimovic, president of the National Union of Dermatologists.
The SNDV also mentions « the sudden appearance of persistent, sometimes painful redness and temporary hives lesions ». Dermatologists wish to alert the population and the nursing staff to take these lesions into account when screening for covid-19. « These patients (are) potentially contagious (without necessarily signs of breathing difficulties) », they specify.
Is this related to bleeding disorders?
Since the beginning of the epidemic, this virus has not ceased to surprise us. While we associate it with a persistent cough, fever, intense fatigue and difficulty breathing, we now know that dizziness, body aches, and loss of smell and taste are also symptoms. Likewise, it would appear, that potentially painful skin lesions.
“Two articles from China and Taiwan report hives and acro-ischemia. And in Italy, another paper, talks about generalized eruptions and hives, ”said Professor Beylot-Barry to the doctor’s daily. According to Professor Jean-Michel Constantin, head of the intensive care unit at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital (AP-HP), questioned by our colleagues, the link between these frostbites and the condition of the patients is “consistent with the disorders of the coagulation that we find in the Covid. ”