CDC analysis: First months of pandemic saw thousands of excess US kidney failure deaths

A government analysis published Tuesday estimates that the U.S. saw thousands of excess deaths among kidney failure patients during the first seven months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released research reporting that 6,953 to 10,316 more end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients died than would have been expected between February and August of 2020. 

This amounts to 8.7 to 12.9 excess deaths per 1,000 patients, out of a total population of 798,611 ESRD patients.

During ESRD, the kidneys stop working and filtering a person’s blood, requiring the patient to get frequent dialysis treatment or a kidney transplant to stay alive.

The analysis measured excess death estimates by comparing recorded and predicted death totals in the seven-month time period and modeling based on data from 2016 to 2019. 

The ESRD fatalities were reported to a database that records information about patients on dialysis or getting a kidney transplant in Medicare-certified facilities in the U.S. 

The mortality rate for ESRD patients has fallen since 2001, but these patients face a high risk for COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality, “which is due, in part, to weakened immune systems and presence of multiple comorbidities,” the CDC said.

The CDC encouraged officials to consider the patterns in excess death data related to location and timeline when brainstorming and implementing initiatives for vaccinations, infection regulation and patient education.

The three areas with the highest number of excess deaths per 1,000 patients were Network 2, or New York; Network 14, or Texas; and Network 3, which includes New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.