Clinical outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) amongst HIV patients: a systematic literature review

Thomas Massarvva
2021 Epidemiology and Health  
The global pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 emerged in the city of Wuhan, China around December 2019. Since then, the virus has caused severe morbidity and mortality worldwide and has put pressure on the global medical system. Still, there are limited data regarding the clinical impact of COVID-19 on people living with HIV (PLWH). The primary aim of this study is therefore to systematically review up-to-date studies reporting on the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 amongst HIV patients. A
more » ... literature search was carried out using Medline, EMBASE, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Cochrane Library Databases in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 22 studies were identified. Amongst 730 HIV/COVID-19 coinfected patients, 79.4% were males, median age was 51.5 and the number of reported patients receiving Antiretroviral drugs was 708 (97.2%). Most coinfected patients had mild to moderate symptoms including majorly cough 37.75%, fever 37.53% and Dyspnea 24.72%. Among pre-existing comorbidities, hypertension (26.3%) was the most prevalent in HIV/COVID-19 coinfected patients, and 87% of coinfected patients have recovered. Based on the existing data in this systematic literature review, HIV patients with pre-existing comorbidities, obesity and of older age should be considered as a high-risk group for COVID-19. Furthermore, coinfected patients appears to have a marginally comparable clinical outcomes with the general population. The study's findings highlight the need for further investigation to elucidate the impact of COVID-19 infection in HIV patients.
doi:10.4178/epih.e2021036 pmid:34015893 pmcid:PMC8342867 fatcat:tsgmk3hxc5eu7a32i6xcfwa3ee