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. 2021 Mar:104:293-296.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.12.026. Epub 2020 Dec 14.

The characteristics of HIV-positive patients with mild/asymptomatic and moderate/severe course of COVID-19 disease-A report from Central and Eastern Europe

Justyna D Kowalska  1 , Kerstin Kase  2 , Anna Vassilenko  3 , Arjan Harxhi  4 , Botond Lakatos  5 , Gordana Dragović Lukić  6 , Antonija Verhaz  7 , Nina Yancheva  8 , Florentina Dumitrescu  9 , David Jilich  10 , Ladislav Machala  11 , Agata Skrzat-Klapaczyńska  12 , Raimonda Matulionyte  13
Affiliations

The characteristics of HIV-positive patients with mild/asymptomatic and moderate/severe course of COVID-19 disease-A report from Central and Eastern Europe

Justyna D Kowalska et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Background: There is currently no evidence suggesting that COVID-19 takes a different course in HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral treatment compared to the general population. However, little is known about the relation between specific HIV-related factors and the severity of the COVID-19 disease.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of cases collected through an on-line survey distributed by the Euroguidelines in Central and Eastern Europe Network Group. In statistical analyses characteristics of HIV-positive patients, asymptomatic/moderate and moderate/severe course were compared.

Results: In total 34 HIV-positive patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were reported by 12 countries (Estonia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Albania, Belarus, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria). Asymptomatic courses of COVID-19 were reported in four (12%) cases, 11 (32%) patients presented with mild disease not requiring hospitalization, moderate disease with respiratory and/or systemic symptoms was observed in 14 (41%) cases, and severe disease with respiratory failure was found in five (15%) patients. The HIV-related characteristics of patients with an asymptomatic/mild course of COVID-19 were comparable to those with a moderate/severe course of COVID-19, except for the use of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) in cART regimen (0.0% vs. 31.6% respectively, p = 0.0239).

Conclusions: In our analyses HIV viral suppression and immunological status were not associated with the course of COVID-19 disease. On the contrary the cART regimen could contribute to severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Large and prospective studies are necessary to further investigate this relationship.

Keywords: Antiretroviral therapy; COVID-19; HIV; Protease inhibitors; SARS-CoV-2.

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