Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection in Patients Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Case Reports and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Background: Novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly spread over the globe. The knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 infection in immunocompromised patients was limited. Case presentation: We presented here two human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected cases with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 and clinically confirmed COVID-19, respectively. The patients both presented with fever at illness onset and patchy shadows in radiological images of lungs. Laboratory findings revealed leukopenia, lymphopenia and positive anti-HIV antibody. The younger case had a moderate course and was discharged after a 28-day hospitalization. However, the elder case with multiple comorbidities developed dyspnea and died on the fourth day after admission. Conclusions: Combining our data with two case reports, we summarize that disease course varies in HIV-infected patients with COVID-19. More attention should be paid to the management of these patients. Whether there is any difference about clinical characteristics and prognosis of COVID-19 between HIV-infected and non-HIV infected patients, remains to be further investigated.

COVID-19 and HIV co-infection: a living systematic evidence map of current research

“…Presented in order of the first published paper from a country, there were thirty five papers from thirteen countries: China,[5–11] Spain,[12–14] Italy,[15, 16] United States,[17–29] United Kingdom,[30,31] Turkey,[32] Germany,[33] South Africa,[34] Singapore,[35] Uganda,[36], Cyprus,[37] (Figure 1), Japan,[38] and Austria. [39] The first known case of COVID-19 and HIV co-infection was reported from China on 11 March 2020.…”