HIV infection as a risk factor for COVID 19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

There are many questions about the behavior of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in people living with human Immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV). It is not clear whether they have a higher risk of complications or higher mortality than the general population. The risk of infection of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), risk of severe symptoms by COVID-19, and risk of mortality by COVID-19 of PLHIV were compared with people without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, LILACS and SCIELO were searched from January 2020 to March 2021. 22 cohort / case-control studies were chosen. Software Review Manager 5.4 was used for the meta-analysis. An increased risk of mortality (2.07) due to COVID-19 was identified among people with human immudeficiency virus (HIV) compared to people without HIV. HIV infection is a risk factor for COVID-19; it should be given special to patients with high viral load, low count CD4 and who are not currently receiving antiviral therapy (ART).