Vulnerable Kidney Patients Experience Severe Conditions If Infected With RSV, Why?

JAKARTA - The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common respiratory virus that usually causes symptoms such as colds, which can have serious consequences for infants, the elderly, and people with congenital diseases. One of the people who are susceptible to infection is a patient with kidney disease.

Patients with kidney disease who have been infected with RSV are also prone to severe conditions. The severity is even up to 6.5 times compared to people who do not have kidney disease.

"So if the kidney patient is affected by RSV, then the possibility of him getting heavier to enter the hospital is 6.5 times that the person does not have kidney failure," said dr. Robert Sinto, SpPD, K-PTI, DPhil, FINASIM, FHEA, during the Pfizer media briefing in Sudirman, Jakarta, on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.

Patients with kidney disease will be worse off if they are infected with RSV because their immune system has decreased from people in general. Those who fail to have a kidney must also undergo treatment such as dialysis or hemodialysis.

While doing hemodialysis, patients with kidney failure will be in the hospital for a long time, and in crowded environments that make them more susceptible to infection.

"The generalized kidney patient's immunity is indeed lower than a healthy person," he said.

The two kidney patients, especially if they have kidney failure, will definitely be hospitalized again and again. There, there is a crowd of people, it can expose them, because they are in the same environment as people who are at risk of infection are also higher. This is so that exposure is also higher," he added.

The severity of hospital infection in kidney disease patients is also being influenced by the treatment of those who often do not use drugs. This is because the administration of drugs to kidney patients should not be arbitrary, because it can risk increasingly disrupting the health of their kidneys.

"Not to mention the treatment for those who are vulnerable not to taking drugs, because they are afraid of why the kidneys are why, so the treatment can be delayed," he explained.

If infected with RSV, kidney disease patients are also likely to be hospitalized. At this stage, symptoms can already be more severe, which can even lead to death.

During medical treatment, a doctor can also appear (discovered) complications that require other additional drugs. This eventually makes people (neyney disease) enter the hospital. It can end up with a higher risk of death, "said doctor Robert.