Society of Diabetic Nephropathy Prevention Journal of Nephropathology 2251-8363 11 1 2022 01 01 Prevalence and clinical presentation of COVID-19 infection in hemodialysis patients e7 e7 10.34172/jnp.2022.07 EN Azra Kenarkoohi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9928-8627 Maryam Maleki https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1342-553X Bahareh Ghiasi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5467-8093 Elham Bastani https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8701-6640 Iraj Pakzad https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3046-4506 Mahtab Bonyadi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8943-2413 Amir Abdoli https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4326-4586 Shahab Falahi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3764-2168 Journal Article 10.34172/jnp.2022.07 2021 02 10 2021 03 31 Introduction: Hemodialysis (HD) patients are at increased risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and clinical symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HD patients. Patients and Methods: This is a single-center study conducted at HD center, in Ilam, Iran. The study was included 87 HD patients to be tested. SARS-CoV-2 infection was diagnosed with confirmed test by rRT-PCR (real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) assay. Results: Around 35.63% of HD patients were diagnosed as COVID-19 infection; most of them were male (74.4%). Dyspnea (58.1%) and cough (45.2%) were the most common symptoms among HD cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Diabetes (16.1%) and hypertension (19.4%) were the most coexisting medical illnesses. About 12.9% of patients needed ICU care. Additionally, 16.1% of our patients died, which all of them were male. Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of COVID-19 among our HD group, accompanied by mild symptoms. The HD population is probably among the most sensitive and high-risk groups for COVID-19 because of advanced age, comorbidities disease, low-immune function and frequent required visits, and patient overload in HD centers. Preventive measures should be taken in order to minimize the virus transmission in dialysis centers.