Identification of Kidney Transplant Recipients with Coronavirus Disease 2019

Zhang, Hui; Chen, Yan; Yuan, Quan; Xia, Qiu-Xiang; Zeng, Xian-Peng; Peng, Jing-Tao; Liu, Jing; Xiao, Xing-Yuan; Jiang, Guo-Song; Xiao, Han-Yu; Xie, Liang-Bo; Chen, Jing; Liu, Jia-Li; Xiao, Xiong; Su, Hua; Zhang, Chun; Zhang, Xiao-Ping; Yang, Hua; Li, Heng; Wang, Zhen-Di

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel and lethal infectious disease, posing a threat to global health security. The number of cases has increased rapidly, but no data concerning kidney transplant (KTx) recipients infected with COVID-19 are available. To present the epidemiological, clinical, and therapeutic characteristics of KTx recipients infected with COVID-19, we report on a case series of five patients who were confirmed as having COVID-19 through nucleic acid testing (NAT) from January 1, 2020 to February 28, 2020. The most common symptoms on admission to hospital were fever (five patients, 100%), cough (five patients, 100%), myalgia or fatigue (three patients, 60%), and sputum production (three patients, 60%); serum creatinine or urea nitrogen levels were slightly higher than those before symptom onset. Four patients received a reduced dose of maintenance immunosuppressive therapy during hospitalization. As of March 4, 2020 NAT was negative for COVID-19 in three patients twice in succession, and their computed tomography scans showed improved images. Although greater patient numbers and long-term follow-up data are needed, our series demonstrates that mild COVID-19 infection in KTx recipients can be managed using symptomatic support therapy combined with adjusted maintenance immunosuppressive therapy.