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Observational Study
. 2024 Dec;52(6):2339-2350.
doi: 10.1007/s15010-024-02288-9. Epub 2024 May 3.

Long-term symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection in a cohort of people living with HIV

Melania Degli Antoni #  1 , Giovanni Maifredi #  2 , Samuele Storti  1 , Giorgio Tiecco  1 , Marco Di Gregorio  1 , Benedetta Rossi  1 , Cinzia Gasparotti  2 , Emanuele Focà  1 , Francesco Castelli  1 , Eugenia Quiros-Roldan  3
Affiliations
Observational Study

Long-term symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection in a cohort of people living with HIV

Melania Degli Antoni et al. Infection. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Our Hospital in Northern Italy assists 3817 people living with HIV (PLWH) and has faced the impact of COVID-19. Little is known about the impact of HIV infection on the risk of post-COVID-19 conditions (PCCs) onset. We aim to assess the incidence of PCC in PLWH and the factors associated with its occurrence.

Methods: We performed a retrospective, observational study including all PLWH > 18 years registered in the Brescia Health Protection Agency database, assessing SARS-CoV-2 burden, vaccination status, socio-demographic, and viro-immunological parameters from February 2020 until May 2022. Persistence of self-reported symptoms (clustered into gastrointestinal, respiratory, osteo-muscular, and neuro-behavioral symptoms) was evaluated after 3 months by a telephone-administered questionnaire. We estimated the associations between all variables and outcomes through univariate and multivariable logistic models.

Results: In the study period, 653 PLWH were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection (17.1%). We observed 19 (2.9%) reinfections, 71 (10.9%) hospitalizations, and 3 (0.5%) deaths. We interviewed 510/653 PLWH (78%), and 178 (PCCs prevalence 34.9%; CI 95% 30.7-39.2) reported persistent symptoms. Asthenia/fatigue was the most reported symptom (60/178), followed by muscular pain (54/178). In the multivariate regression model, there was a lower risk of PCCs in males respect to females (adjusted OR = 0.64; CI 95% 0.99-3.66), while hospitalization during acute infection was associated with an increased the risk of PCCs (adjusted OR = 1.9; CI 95% 0.99-3.66). Notably, no viro-immunological variable modified the PCCs risk onset.

Conclusions: Our study highlights a substantial prevalence of PCCs among PLWH, three months post-SARS-CoV-2 infection, independent of viro-immunological features or vaccination status.

Keywords: COVID-19; HIV; Long-COVID; PLWH; Post-COVID-19 conditions; Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the local ethical committee of the Spedali Civili General Hospital of Brescia (approval code NP 5477, local ethical committee approval date 10th August 2022).

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (at least one dose) in PLWH and non-PLWH
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Number of PLWH who reported one or more symptoms at 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Cumulative percentage of SARS-CoV-2 infections during the study period stratified by presence or absence of long-COVID
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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