Dr. Maria Theresa Bad-ang, president of the Philippine Society of Nephrology-Mindanao chapter. (Photo screen grabbed from the virtual press briefing of the Department of Health in Region 11)
DAVAO CITY – A total of 234 End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients admitted at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) have recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the president of the Philippine Society of Nephrology-Mindanao chapter said Monday.
Dr. Maria Theresa Bad-ang said the number of recoveries was taken out from the 324 ESRD patients who got infected, 24 of whom are currently admitted while 66 died from the disease.
“SPMC is the only hospital catering to Covid-19 positive patients on dialysis and we do not admit this to the private institutions even if they are their regular patient. Once they are dialysis patients and got infected, SPMC took care of them,” she explained during the virtual press briefing hosted by the Department of Health in Region 11 (DOH-11).
Bad-ang said there are currently 2,400 dialysis patients in Davao Region, the majority of whom are from this city.
“They are high-risk patients who undergo two to three dialysis sessions per week,” she said, citing their vulnerability to Covid-19 infection.
Bad-ang also bared that the dialysis patients in this city were the first in the Philippines to get inoculated with anti-Covid-19 vaccines and were considered to be part of the A3 priority group.
“We are happy that SPMC and DOH facilitated and enrolled our dialysis patients to get vaccinated as A3,” she said, adding that some 185 dialysis patients and 50 kidney transplant patients have already been vaccinated.
“We are also the first institution that had covered kidney transplant patients for vaccination. There are more patients in line to get anti-Covid jabs,” she added.
On the other hand, as part of the National Kidney Awareness Month, Bad-ang also reminded uncontrolled hypertension within five years and uncontrolled diabetes for two years will develop into a kidney failure."
She also advised the public to take less meat, exercise regularly, diet must be low on salt, drink eight to 10 glasses of water, and get a urinalysis check.
“Because the first sign of kidney injury is the protein or blood in their urine,” Bad-ang said. (PNA)
