CDC #FightFlu Campaign

CDC reports that the best way to protect yourself from the flu is to get vaccinated every year, and has begun a campaign to encourage everyone to get the flu vaccine, especially those with weakened immune systems like CKD patients, who have an increased risk of severe illness from the flu, even without considering COVID-19 – which you can get along with the flu. Find campaign resources like the animation below, in English and Spanish, at https://www.cdc.gov/flu/resource-center/freeresources/graphics/animated-fight-flu-punch.htm .

HDC Blog Post on Dialysis, Travel, and COVID-19

Home Dialysis Central has added a post to their blog called Dialysis Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic.  It’s important for dialysis patients to know and accept that they are at higher risk for serious complications if they get COVID-19, because they have kidney failure.  This is true for any ESRD patient, not just those who are 65 or older.  According to CMS, during the first half of 2020 Medicare patients on dialysis were more than twice as vulnerable to COVID-19 infection compared to non-dialysis Medicare patients, and more than four times as likely to require hospitalization.  Find the HDC post at https://homedialysis.org/news-and-research/blog/372-dialysis-travel-during-the-covid-19-pandemic.

4/29 AAKP HealthLine on COVID-19 and CKD 1-4

AAKP HealthLine will present an April 29, 2020 webinar on Fighting Coronavirus Upstream – What Early Stage Kidney Disease Patients Need to Know, about how people with CKD Stages 1-4 may be able to fend off COVID-19 (I’m extrapolating that from limited information).  Find more information and register at https://aakp.org/programs-and-events/aakp-healthline/.

4/7 DPC COVID-19 Webinar New Link

DPC has changed the link to their April 7, 2020 webinar on What Patients Need to Know about COVID-19, in order to allow more participants.  It’s now dialysispatients.adobeconnect.com/webinar/; see below for more details.

4/7 DPC Patient Webinar on COVID-19

Dialysis Patient Citizens will host an April 7, 2020 patient education webinar on the COVID-19 Explosion, Lessons Learned from New York – What Kidney Patients Need to Know.   See https://nwrnbulletins.wordpress.com/2020/04/06/4-7-dpc-covid-19-webinar-new-link/.

CDC HAN on Chloroquine as Seen on TV

CDC has released a new HAN Health Alert Advisory on Severe Illness Associated with Using Non-Pharmaceutical Chloroquine Phosphate to Prevent and Treat COVID-19.  The Summary includes “Chloroquine phosphate, when used without a prescription and supervision of a healthcare provider, can cause serious health consequences, including death.  Clinicians and public health officials should discourage the public from misusing non-pharmaceutical chloroquine phosphate (a chemical used in home aquariums).  Clinicians should advise patients and the public that chloroquine, and the related compound hydroxychloroquine, should be used only under the supervision of a healthcare provider as prescribed medications.”  Find the CDC HAN at https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2020/han00431.asp?deliveryName=USCDC_511-DM24285.

3/18 AAKP Healthline for Patients on COVID-19

AAKP Healthline will present a March 18, 2020 webinar on What Kidney Patients and their Families need to know about Coronavirus, featuring CDC Medical Officer Shannon Novosad, MD, MPH.  For details and registration see https://aakp.org/programs-and-events/aakp-healthline/.

3/13 DPC Webinar on COVID-19 & Patients

DPC will present a March 13, 2020 webinar on What the COVID-19 Means for Kidney Patients.  Find details and register at https://www.dpcedcenter.org/education-webinar/what-the-covid-19-means-for-kidney-patients/.

DPC has also added a page on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Information for Dialysis Patients to their website, with sections on prevention, dialysis, preparation, and links to resources, at https://www.dialysispatients.org/news/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-information-for-dialysis-patients/.

3/12 World Kidney Day and National Kidney Month

March 12, 2020 is World Kidney Day, sponsored by the International Society of Nephrology and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations.  This year’s theme is Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere – from Prevention to Detection and Equitable Access to Care.  Find more information at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5808a1.htm and a campaign toolkit at https://www.worldkidneyday.org/2020-campaign/2020-campaign-materials/.

March is also National Kidney Month, with the theme Take the Pressure off Your Kidneys and Your Health.  Find more information at https://www.kidney.org/content/national-kidney-month and https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/community-health-outreach/national-kidney-month.  The latter includes a campaign toolkit, including posters like the one below, in English and Spanish.

To support National Kidney Month, NKF, HHS, and ASN have launched a nationwide risk campaign called Are You the 33%?.  Find details at https://www.kidney.org/news/nationwide-kidney-risk-campaign-launched-nkf-hhs-and-asn.

“Are You the 33%?” CKD Campaign

To honor National Kidney Month (March), HHS, ASN, NKF, and private partners including CVS Kidney Care, have launched a nationwide campaign to reach the 33% of American adults who are at risk of kidney disease, and to help them avoid further development of the disease.  Find more information at https://www.kidney.org/news/nationwide-kidney-risk-campaign-launched-nkf-hhs-and-asn.  They plan to also launch a Spanish-language version on September 15, 2020 for National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15).