COVID-19 Infection May Be Harder On Kidneys Than Other Respiratory Tract Infections, Study Indicates

MedPage Today (12/26, Monaco) reports, “COVID-19 infection may be harder on the kidneys than other respiratory tract infections, a Swedish observational study indicated.” After “comparing the change in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) before and after COVID,” investigators found that “individuals had a mean eGFR decline that was 5.0 mL/min/1.73 m2 faster after infection in hospitalized cases and 3.2 mL/min/1.73 m2 faster among nonhospitalized cases.” Meanwhile, “in a prepandemic cohort of patients with pneumonia from the flu or other respiratory tract infections, mean eGFR declines were 2.4 mL/min/1.73 m2 faster among hospitalized cases compared with pre-infection slopes, while there was no significant difference in the change among the nonhospitalized subset.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.