Where is CKDu?

CKDu was first discovered in Central America 1, but it was identified in Sri Lanka in the early ‘90s. In Nicaragua and El Salvador, the mortality rate of CKDu is higher than HIV/AIDS, leukemia, and diabetes combined. The disease has been reported by clinicians as far north as the San Joaquin Valley in California and as far south as Argentina.

The epidemic may be occurring outside the Americas as well. La Isla Network and its research partners are investigating apparently related epidemics in India and Sri Lanka and cases in other countries in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South America.

Do you suspect that there is a CKDu epidemic in your region? Tell us now.

*As reported by clinicians 2

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Confirmed Epidemic

Reported Epidemic*

Notes:

  1. Trabanino RG, Aguilar R, Silva CR, Mercado MO, Merino RL. “End-stage renal disease among patients in a referral hospital in El Salvador.” Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2002 Sep;12(3):202-6. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12396639 ↩
  2. Glaser J, Lemery J, Rajagopalan B, Diaz HF, Trabanino RG, Taduri G, Madero M, Amarasinghe M, Abraham G, Anutrakulchai S, Jha V, Stenvinkel P, Jimenez CR, Lanaspa MA, Rotter RC, Hamad DS, Burdmann EA, Hernando AA, Milagres T, Weiss I, Kanbay M, Wesseling C, Lozada LGS, Johnson RJ. “Climate Change and the Emergent Epidemic of CKD from Heat Stress in Rural Communities: The Case for Heat Stress Nephropathy.” Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. May 2016. Available at: http://cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/early/2016/05/04/CJN.13841215.abstract ↩