THE National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) on Wednesday announced that it has temporarily closed its out-patient Hemodialysis Center in Quezon City after several patients began experiencing chills last Wednesday.
In a press conference, NKTI Executive Director Dr. Jose Dante Dator admitted that they have already closed the said unit last Friday in order to give them an opportunity to investigate the possible cause of the chills.
"Tinitingnan natin kung saan nangggaling ang problema… yung production line temporarily nakatigil para makita kung saan ang problema," explained Dator.
Among the factors they are looking at are their water source, blood culture, disinfectants, dialyzer and filters, among others.
Dator also said they are looking at possible causes stemming from the patients themselves, such as allergies or infections.
"I assure you the moment ma-pinpoint namin, we will let you know kasi mahirap naman mag-speculate. We are trying to be careful to address the issue," said Dator.
NKTI Hemodialysis Unit Head Dr. Romina Danguilan related that a total of 44 patients complained of chills out of the possible 360 beginning last Wednesday until they closed on Friday.
She noted that they are handling 120 hemodialysis patients per day.
Of the 44 patients, Danguilan said only 20 are still under observation as the 24 have already recovered and did not experience chilling anymore.
"The affected patients are only approximately 13 percent… kung tinuloy at nadagdagan, lalaki ang problema," said Dator.
Danguilan said they are temporarily farming out their patients to at least seven private hemodialysis centers within Metro Manila.
She said that their patients only need to pay for their treatments at the NKTI before they are transported to their designated centers. The price of the treatment will follow the NKTI rate.
"We want to assure the public that our concern is the safety of the patients… they will be safe and they still be able to continue their treatment," said Danguilan.
She said they are looking at a possible partial resumption of operations by next week and, resume fully later on if possible.
"All the tests will probably be out sometime by Monday and maybe we will review it and see, based on the results, whether we can already resume at once or we will do it slowly. As of today, the plan is to start slow," said Danguilan. (HDT/Sunnex)