December 13, 2001 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has just released the "National Surveillance of Dialysis-Associated Diseases in the U.S., 2000". Click here to view the 42-page report. (It is in pdf format which requires Adobe Acrobat reader.)

Questionnaires were returned by 3,683 (96%) of 3,793 centers, which represented 241,113 patients and 55,855 staff members.

Highlights of the report - 2000 data on US dialysis facilities:

Reuse - The percentage of clinics reusing dialyzers stayed the same from 1999 - 80%.

Methods used for reprocessing dialyzers:

• Formaldehyde - 31% (down 2% from 1999)
  
  
• Periacetic acid - 59% (up 1%)
  
  
• Glutaraldehyde - 5% (down 1%)
  
  
• Heat - 4% (up 1%)

Hepatitis B vaccine use - 57.7% of patients and 88.4% of staff were vaccinated.

Flu and pneumonia vaccine use - An estimated 64.2% of patients received the flu vaccine and 27.2% received the pneumonia vaccine.

Hepatitis C virus - Hepatitis C testing was done on the staff at 40% of the dialysis centers. Results revealed 1.7% of the staff tested positive for anti-HCV. Hepatitis C testing was done on the patients at 58% of the dialysis centers. Results revealed 8.4% of the patients tested positive for anti-HCV.

Vascular Access - The percentage of patients who use central catheters increased to 24%. This is worrisome as catheters are associated with increased rates of infection and antimicrobial use. On the positive side, the percentage of patients using fistulas increased to 28%.

Reasons for the use of catheters - 25% of catheters were used for new patients awaiting an implanted access, 28% for established patients with a failed access awaiting a new implanted access, 41% as a last resort, and 6% for other reasons.

Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) - The percentage of centers reporting one or more patients infected or colonized with VRE increased from 11.5% in 1995 to 32.7 in 2000.

The objectives of the yearly CDC survey is to:

• determine the frequency with which certain hemodialysis practices are used, including measures designed to prevent disease
  
  
  
• determine the frequency of hemodialysis-associated complications and diseases
  
  
  
• use this information to suggest further measures to prevent complications and disease in hemodialysis patients and staff

[This message has been edited by Gary Peterson (edited 08-24-2004).]