Nov
18
2026
November 18, 2026
ISN Webinar: Tropical infections and the kidney – presentation, pitfalls, and prevention
- 15:00 CET
Acute kidney injury (AKI) in tropical regions—home to roughly 40% of the world’s population—is driven to a large extent by infections such as leptospirosis, scrub typhus, dengue, malaria, Ebola virus, yellow fever, and HIV. These infections cause kidney injury through overlapping mechanisms including volume depletion, hypotension, hemolysis, rhabdomyolysis, direct cytopathic effects, and immune-mediated damage, and many progress to multiorgan failure with substantial morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis is frequently delayed because early clinical features are nonspecific and overlap with other acute febrile illnesses, while limited diagnostic infrastructure and restricted access to kidney replacement therapy in low- and low-middle-income settings further worsen outcomes.
This webinar reviews the epidemiology, risk factors, pathophysiology, and diagnostic approach to AKI associated with the major tropical infections, with emphasis on the distinctive clinical clues that aid early recognition (for example, nonoliguria, hypokalemia, and hyponatremia in leptospirosis, or the eschar of scrub typhus). It also addresses management priorities—including infection-specific therapy, supportive care, and appropriate selection of dialysis modality—and the public health strategies (vector control, vaccination, improved sanitation, risk-stratification protocols, and health-system strengthening) essential to reducing the burden of infection-associated AKI. Particular attention is given to challenges posed by climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and structural inequity, and to practical solutions relevant to resource-limited practice
Learning objectives:
- Describe the epidemiology and global burden of AKI associated with major tropical infections, including leptospirosis, scrub typhus, dengue, malaria, Ebola virus, yellow fever, and HIV.
- Explain the principal pathophysiologic mechanisms of kidney injury across these infections, including volume depletion and hypotension, hemolysis and rhabdomyolysis, direct viral/bacterial cytopathic effects, and immune-mediated injury.
- Identify the distinctive clinical and laboratory features that support early recognition of specific tropical infection–associated AKI and distinguish it from other acute febrile illnesses.
- Apply appropriate diagnostic strategies, weighing the strengths and limitations of serological, molecular, and point-of-care tests in resource-limited settings.
- Formulate an evidence-based management plan, including infection-specific therapy, supportive care, and rational selection of kidney replacement therapy modality (including special considerations for high-risk infections such as Ebola).
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Evaluate public health and preventive interventions—vaccination, vector control, safe water access, risk-identification protocols, and health-system strengthening—and their role in reducing the incidence and severity of infection-associated AKI.
Moderator
Kornchanok Vareesangthip (Thailand)
Mythri Shankar (India)
Speakers
Lúcia Andrade (Brazil)
Bianca Jane Davison (South Africa)
Eranga Wijewickrama (Sri Lanka)
Sourabh Sharma (India)