There are concerns that in-center maintenance hemodialysis (HD) patients may have higher risk for infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) because they take 3 or more round-trips a week to dialysis centers and spend several hours during dialysis close to fellow patients and clinic staff. This concern is supported by data from dialysis facilities in London, United Kingdom.¹

During the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), New York City was one of the worst affected regions in the United States. Starting in August 2020, the New York City Department of Health has published regularly updated seropositivity rates for the general population for most 5-digit zip code areas.² This allowed us to link zip code area seroprevalence data with results of 2 cross-sectional serosurveillance projects conducted in in-center maintenance HD patients and clinic staff in Manhattan dialysis facilities.

Between June and September 2020, we conducted a quality improvement project and an institutional review board (IRB)-approved clinical research study (Western IRB protocol # 20201875) to assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in in-center maintenance HD patients and clinic staff. The quality improvement project was approved by the clinic governing bodies and underwent legal and compliance review. Verbal consent was obtained from all patients. Written informed consent was obtained from staff before blood sampling. Blood samples were obtained and analyzed for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibodies by Spectra Laboratories (Rockleigh, NJ) using the emergency use authorized kits with reported specificity and sensitivity of 98.7% and 100%.³