Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Oct 1;34(12):1765-1770.
doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000002639.

Coronavirus disease 2019 attack rate in HIV-infected patients and in preexposure prophylaxis users

Caroline Charre  1   2   3 , Vinca Icard  1 , Pierre Pradat  4 , Corinne Brochier  4 , Bruno Lina  1   2 , Christian Chidiac  2   5 , Laurent Cotte  5
Affiliations

Coronavirus disease 2019 attack rate in HIV-infected patients and in preexposure prophylaxis users

Caroline Charre et al. AIDS. .

Abstract

Objective: A new coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) emerged in China during late 2019 and resulted in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic which peaked in France in March-April 2020. Immunodeficiency, precariousness and promiscuity could increase the risk of COVID-19 in HIV-infected patients and in preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) users. No epidemiological data are available in these two populations. We report COVID-19 attack rate in HIV-infected patients and in PrEP users in the Rhône department, France, and compared it with the general population.

Design: Retrospective analysis of a laboratory database.

Methods: COVID-19 testing strategy in France was centered on symptomatic infections, hospitalized patients and symptomatic healthcare workers while most asymptomatic cases were not confirmed. SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate on PCR assays and COVID-19 attack rate were determined in HIV-infected patients and in PrEP users. COVID-19 attack rate in the general population was estimated from health authorities' database and demographic data. A corrected attack rate taking into account the laboratory representativeness was calculated.

Results: From March to April 2020, 24 860 samples from 19 113 patients (HIV-infected 77, PrEP users 27, others 19 009) were assessed for SARS-CoV-2 PCR assay. The positivity rate appeared similar in HIV-infected patients (15.6%), in PrEP users (14.8%) and in other patients (19.1%). The crude/corrected COVID-19 attack rate appeared similar in HIV-infected patients (0.31/0.38%) and in PrEP users (0.38/0.42%), and of the same order as the estimated attack rate in the general population (0.24%).

Conclusion: The risk of symptomatic COVID-19 in France appeared similar in HIV-infected patients and in PrEP users compared with the general population.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Crude and corrected coronavirus disease 2019 attack rates in HIV-infected patients (n = 77) and in preexposure prophylaxis users (n = 27), and estimated coronavirus disease 2019 attack rate in the general population in the Rhône department, France, March–April 2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, Li X, Yang B, Song J, et al. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med 2020; 382:727–733.. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guan W, Ni Z, Hu Y, Liang W, Ou C, He J, et al. Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China. N Engl J Med 2020; 382:1708–1720.. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Laurence J. Why aren’t people living with HIV at higher risk for developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?. AIDS Patient Care STDs 2020; 34:247–248.. - PubMed
    1. Gervasoni C, Meraviglia P, Riva A, Giacomelli A, Oreni L, Minisci D, et al. Clinical features and outcomes of HIV patients with coronavirus disease 2019. Clin Infect Dis 2020; ciaa579.Available from: https://academic-oup-com.proxy.insermbiblio.inist.fr/cid/advance-article.... [Cited 16 June 2020]. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Härter G, Spinner CD, Roider J, Bickel M, Krznaric I, Grunwald S, et al. COVID-19 in people living with human immunodeficiency virus: a case series of 33 patients. Infection 2020; 1–6.. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms