New Delhi: Vaccinated patients hospitalised with Covid-19 who developed acute kidney injury (AKI) had better outcomes than unvaccinated patients with the same condition, according to new research led by the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA).
The study, published in the journal Kidney Medicine, found that vaccinated individuals were less likely to require dialysis after discharge and were more likely to survive than their unvaccinated counterparts.
Acute kidney injury is a common complication in Covid-19 patients, with rates reported as high as 46 per cent. The condition can range from a mild decline in kidney function to severe cases requiring dialysis. However, the long-term kidney and survival outcomes of these patients had not been well studied until now.
"The Covid vaccine is an important intervention that can decrease the chances of developing complications from the Covid-19 infection in patients hospitalised with acute kidney injuries," said lead author Dr Niloofar Nobakht, Associate Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
"It is important for individuals to discuss the benefits of getting vaccinated for Covid-19 with their doctors as it can decrease the chances of needing dialysis, which can severely affect the quality of life of patients and lead to further complications including death," Nobakht added.
Researchers analysed data from around 3,500 patients hospitalised with Covid-19 between March 1, 2020, and March 30, 2022. Among these, 972 patients developed acute kidney injury. Of these, 411 (42.3 per cent) were unvaccinated, while 467 (48 per cent) had received at least two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines or one dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.
The study showed that 65 (15.8 per cent) unvaccinated patients required continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), a type of dialysis for critically ill patients, compared with 51 (10.9 per cent) vaccinated patients.
Further analysis revealed that unvaccinated patients had 2.56 times the odds of needing CRRT after hospital discharge, 5.54 times the risk of dying in hospital, and 4.78 times the risk of dying during long-term follow-up compared with vaccinated patients.
The findings suggest that Covid-19 vaccination may help protect kidney function and reduce mortality risk in patients who develop AKI following infection.