Adults on dialysis treatment for end-stage kidney disease were 100 times more likely to be diagnosed with a Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection when compared with adults not on dialysis, according to a Feb. 6 CDC Vital Signs report.
Further, Hispanic and Black patients were found to have higher rates of staph bloodstream infections while on dialysis than white patients, a CDC statement said.
Using the 2020 National Healthcare Safety Network and the 2017–2020 Emerging Infections Program, CDC researchers analyzed data on patients with end-stage kidney disease between 2017 and 2020. They discovered Hispanic patients on dialysis had a 40 percent higher risk of acquiring a staph bloodstream infection than white patients being treated for end-stage kidney disease.
More than 50 percent of all adults receiving dialysis — 1 in every 3 Black patients and 1 in every 5 Hispanic patients — belong to an ethnic or racial minority group, the research showed.
On a brighter note, overall bloodstream infections contracted by patients on dialysis have decreased since 2014 due to concerted efforts to prevent and control infections.
Following the release of the data analysis, the CDC called on healthcare providers to use low-risk alternatives to the needles or catheters commonly used to connect patients to dialysis machines. These alternatives may include fistulas or grafts instead of central venous catheters. Germs, including staph, can get into a patient's bloodstream more easily through catheter use, the report said.
"Dialysis-associated bloodstream infections are preventable — not inevitable," said Shannon Novosad, MD, MPH, lead of the Dialysis Safety Team in CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. "Our data show that use of a central venous catheter as a vascular access type had six times higher risk for staph bloodstream infections when compared to the lowest-risk access, a fistula. Prevention efforts that equitably promote lower-risk vascular access types and continued use of infection prevention and control best practices can save lives."