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
Case Reports
. 2021 Oct 26;18(1):78.
doi: 10.1186/s12981-021-00407-2.

Acute HIV infection syndrome mimicking COVID-19 vaccination side effects: a case report

Julian Triebelhorn  1 , Stefanie Haschka  2 , Felix Hesse  2 , Johanna Erber  2 , Simon Weidlich  2 , Marcel Lee  2 , Dieter Hoffmann  3 , Josef Eberle  4 , Christoph D Spinner  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Acute HIV infection syndrome mimicking COVID-19 vaccination side effects: a case report

Julian Triebelhorn et al. AIDS Res Ther. .

Abstract

Background: Symptoms of primary HIV infection, including fever, rash, and headache, are nonspecific and are often described as flu-like. COVID-19 vaccination side effects, such as fever, which occur in up to 10% of people following COVID-19 vaccination, can make the diagnosis of acute HIV infection even more challenging.

Case presentation: A 26-year-old man presented with fever and headache following COVID-19 vaccination. The symptoms were initially thought to be vaccine side effects. A diagnostic workup was conducted due to persisting fever and headache > 72 h following vaccination, and he was diagnosed with Fiebig stage II acute HIV infection, 3 weeks after having unprotected anal intercourse with another man.

Conclusion: Thorough anamnesis is key to estimating the individual risk of primary HIV infection, in patients presenting with flu-like symptoms. Early diagnosis and initiation of antiretroviral therapy is associated with better prognosis and limits transmission of the disease.

Keywords: Acute HIV infection; COVID-19; Fiebig; HIV seroconversion illness; Seroconversion; Vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Christoph Spinner reports grants, personal fees, and non-financial support from AbbVie; grants, personal fees, and non-financial support from Apeiron; grants, personal fees from B. Braun Melsungen, grants from Cepheid, personal fees from Formycon, grants, personal fees, and non-financial support from Gilead Sciences; grants and personal fees from Eli Lilly; grants, personal fees, and non-financial support from Janssen-Cilag; personal fees from Molecular partners, grants, personal fees, and non-financial support from GSK/ViiV Healthcare; grants, personal fees, and non-financial support from MSD, outside the submitted work. Simon Weidlich reports personal fees and non-financial support from Gilead Sciences and Janssen-Cilag. No additional competing interests by any authors of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Timeline of the patient’s exposure history, clinical presentation, and diagnosis. Symptoms and events as described in this case report are depicted in a timeline measured in days since infection. Events are indicated by red bars, and positive test results are indicated by green bars. Symptoms and duration of persistence are illustrated by differently shaded blue bars
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fiebig EW, Wright DJ, Rawal BD, Garrett PE, Schumacher RT, Peddada L, et al. Dynamics of HIV viremia and antibody seroconversion in plasma donors: implications for diagnosis and staging of primary HIV infection. AIDS. 2003;17(13):1871–1879. doi: 10.1097/00002030-200309050-00005. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Santangelo J. Acute seroconversion of HIV infection in the ambulatory care setting. Nurse Pract. 2001;26(4):48, 51–4, 6. - PubMed
    1. Anand P, Stahel VP. Review the safety of Covid-19 mRNA vaccines: a review. Patient Saf Surg. 2021;15(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s13037-021-00291-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cohen MS, Shaw GM, McMichael AJ, Haynes BF. Acute HIV-1 infection. N Engl J Med. 2011;364(20):1943–1954. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1011874. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Facente SN, Grebe E, Pilcher CD, Busch MP, Murphy G, Welte A. Estimated dates of detectable infection (EDDIs) as an improvement upon Fiebig staging for HIV infection dating. Epidemiol Infect. 2020;148:e53. doi: 10.1017/S0950268820000503. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances