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Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Aug 17:12:05036.
doi: 10.7189/jogh.12.05036.

HIV infection does not affect the risk of death of COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies

Giuliana Favara, Martina Barchitta, Andrea Maugeri, Giuseppina Faro, Antonella Agodi
Meta-Analysis

HIV infection does not affect the risk of death of COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies

Giuliana Favara et al. J Glob Health. .

Abstract

Background: Even during the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) continues to pose a major threat, worldwide. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined the HIV infection as a risk factor for both severe COVID-19, at hospital admission, and in-hospital mortality. Despite this evidence, however, there remains the need for investigating whether SARS-CoV-2 infection could increase the risk of death among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 infection on the risk of death among PLHIV and HIV- seronegative people.

Methods: The literature search was carried out on PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases, from the inception to February 2022. Epidemiological studies on patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection, which compared the proportion of deaths between PLHIV and HIV-seronegative people, were considered eligible for the inclusion. The pooled odds ratio (OR) was obtained through meta-analysis of the comparison between PLHIV and HIV-seronegative people. Study quality was assessed by using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment.

Results: On a total of 1001 records obtained from the literature search, the present systematic review and meta-analysis included 28 studies on 168 531 PLHIV and 66 712 091 HIV-seronegative patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The meta-analysis showed no difference in the risk of death between PLHIV and HIV-seronegative patients (OR = 1.09; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.93-1.26; P > 0.001). However, a significant heterogeneity was found for this comparison (I2 = 88.8%, P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Although our meta-analysis suggests no difference in the risk of death of PLHIV with SARS-CoV-2 infection, if compared with HIV-seronegative patients, further research should be encouraged to improve the current knowledge about the impact of SARS-CoV-2 and HIV co-infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure of interest: The authors completed the ICMJE Disclosure of Interest Form (available upon request from the corresponding author) and disclose no relevant interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram of study selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot showing the proportion of deaths among people living with HIV (PLHIV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)- seronegative patients.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Funnel plot of studies included in the meta-analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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