Clinical outcomes of patients with COVID‐19 and HIV coinfection

Nagarakanti, Sandhya R.; Okoh, Alexis K; Grinberg, Sagy; Bishburg, Eliahu

BACKGROUND: Patients with Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) infection may be at an increased risk for morbidity and mortality from the Coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19). We present the clinical outcomes of HIV patients hospitalized for COVID‐19 in a matched comparison with historical controls. METHODS: We conducted retrospective cohort study of HIV patients who were admitted for COVID‐19 between March 2020 and April 2020 to Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Data on baseline clinical characteristics and hospital course was documented and compared with that of a matched control group of COVID‐19 patients who had no history of HIV. Kaplan Meier Survival curves and the log‐rank tests were used to estimate and compare in‐hospital survival between both unmatched and matched groups. RESULTS: Twenty‐three patients with HIV were hospitalized with COVID‐19. Median age was 59 years. The rates of in‐hospital death, the need for mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit admission were 13% (n=3), 9% (n=2) and 9% (n=2) respectively. The HIV infection was well controlled in all patients except for 3 patients who had presented with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). All AIDS patients were discharged home uneventfully. A one‐to‐one propensity matching identified 23 COVID‐19 patients who served as a control group. In both pre‐ and post‐match cohorts, survival between HIV and control groups were comparable. CONCLUSIONS: In our cohort of HIV infected patients hospitalized for COVID‐19, there was no difference in mortality, ICU admission and the need for mechanical ventilation when compared to a matched control of COVID ‐19 patients with HIV. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.