Table 1.
Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infected women, stratified by HIV status.
| Variable | HIV-uninfected women | Women living with HIV | Overall p-valuef |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pregnant | Postpartum | p-value | Total | Pregnant | Postpartum | Not pregnant | p-value | Total | ||
| Number tested | n = 12 | n = 12 | – | N = 24 | n = 5 | n = 5 | n = 5 | – | N = 15 | – |
| Age (years), median (IQR) | 30 (23–33) | 28 (22–36) | 0.664 | 30 (22–33) | 40 (33–43) | 30 (24–31) | 40 (35–40) | 0.118 | 34 (29–40) | 0.035 |
| Covid-19 wave (variant) recruitment period, No. (%)a | ||||||||||
| 1st (WT) | 4 (33) | 3 (25) | – | 7 (29) | 1 (20) | 2 (40) | 0 (0) | – | 3 (20) | – |
| 2nd (Beta) | 6 (50) | 7 (58) | – | 13 (54) | 4 (80) | 1 (20) | 4 (80) | – | 9 (60) | – |
| 3rd (Delta) | 2 (17) | 2 (17) | – | 4 (17) | 0 (0) | 2 (40) | 1 (20) | – | 3 (20) | – |
| SARS-CoV-2 N-gene NAAT CT-value, median (IQR)b | 37 (33–37) | 34 (30–35) | 0.317 | 35 (32–37) | 28 (26–32) | 36 (33–38) | 33 (33–34) | 0.195 | 33 (29–34) | 0.443 |
| PBMC isolation post positive SARS-CoV-2 NAAT (days), median (IQR) | 41 (36–45) | 34 (28–41) | 0.056 | 37 (33–44) | 25 (18–33) | 30 (23–39) | 31 (28–32) | 0.623 | 30 (22–37) | 0.006 |
| Gestational age (weeks) at positive SARS-CoV-2 NAAT, median (IQR)c | 34 (26–39) | 38 (36–40) | 0.114 | 38 (33–39) | 39 (30–39) | 36 (34–40) | N/A | 0.806 | 38 (34–39) | 0.704 |
| Comorbidities, No. (%) | ||||||||||
| Hypertension | 1 (8) | 2 (17) | – | 3 (13) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | – | 0 (0) | – |
| Anaemia | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | – | 0 (0) | 1 (20) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | – | 1 (7) | – |
| Covid-19-related symptoms at recruitment, No. (%) | ||||||||||
| Cough | 2 (27) | 2 (27) | – | 4 (17) | 0 (0) | 1 (20) | 1 (20) | – | 2 (13) | – |
| Shortness of breath | 0 (0) | 1 (8) | – | 1 (4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | – | 0 (0) | – |
| Sore throat | 1 (8) | 0 (0) | – | 1 (4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | – | 0 (0) | – |
| Diminished taste | 1 (8) | 0 (0) | – | 1 (4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | – | 0 (0) | – |
| Percentage T cells, median (IQR)d | ||||||||||
| CD4+ T cells | 57.7 (46.9–62.6) | 56.6 (42.8–60.9) | 0.453 | 56.8 (45.6–62.6) | 38.4 (35.8–46.0) | 41.2 (17.2–48.5) | 44.9 (38.1–45.9) | 0.961 | 41.22 (35.5–48.5) | 0.005 |
| CD8+ T cells | 33.9 (29.3–39.1) | 31.8 (25.9–40.5) | 0.603 | 32.3 (27.3–39.7) | 49.7 (49.1–51.1) | 51.3 (39.8–66.0) | 48.2 (46.1–54.7) | 0.914 | 49.7 (41.5–56.0) | < 0.001 |
| CD4+ T-cell count (cells/µL), median (IQR) | – | – | – | – | 347 (241–570) | 390 (239–392) | 644 (551–773) | 0.572 | 392 (239–725) | – |
| CD4+ T-cell count ranges, No. (%) | ||||||||||
| < 200 cells/µL | – | – | – | – | 1 (20) | 0 (0) | 1 (20) | – | 2 (13) | – |
| ≥ 200–750 cells/µL | – | – | – | – | 4 (80) | 4 (80) | 2 (40) | – | 10 (67) | – |
| ≥ 750 cells/µL | – | – | – | – | 0 (0) | 1 (20) | 2 (40) | – | 3 (20) | – |
| HIV-1 viral loads, No. (%)e | ||||||||||
| < 50 RNA copies/mL | N/A | N/A | N/A | – | 3 (60) | 3 (60) | 4 (80) | – | 10 (67) | – |
| ≥ 50–500 RNA copies/mL | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2 (40) | 2 (40) | 1 (20) | – | 5 (33) | – | |
| ART regimens, No. (%) | ||||||||||
| NNRTI + 2 NRTIs | N/A | N/A | N/A | – | 5 (100) | 3 (60) | 4 (80) | – | 12 (80) | – |
| INSTI + 2 NRTIs | N/A | N/A | N/A | – | 0 (0) | 2 (40) | 1 (20) | – | 3 (20) | – |
Denotations: ART antiretroviral treatment, CT cycle threshold value, HIV-1 human immunodeficiency virus type 1, INSTI integrase strand transfer inhibitor, IQR interquartile range, N/A not applicable, NAAT nucleic acid amplification test, N-gene nucleocapsid protein gene, NNRTI non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, NRTI nucleoside or nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor, PBMC peripheral blood mononuclear cells, RNA ribonucleic acid, SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, WT wild-type (ancestral) SARS-CoV-2.
aRecruitment periods during three Covid-19 waves in South Africa, individually driven by WT SARS-CoV-2, the Beta variant (B.1.351), and the Delta variant (B.1.617.2).
bThe cycle threshold (CT) values for the SARS-CoV-2 N-gene.
cGestational age at recruitment with positive SARS-CoV-2 NAATs.
dThe percentage CD4+ and CD8+ T cells as determined by flow cytometry staining after acquiring 100,000 live CD3+ cells.
eHIV-1 viral loads as determined by the Cobas® 6800/8800 HIV-1 test (Roche Diagnostics International Ltd, Rotkreuz, Switzerland) with a lower limit of detection of 50 RNA copies/mL and linear range of 50–107 RNA copies/mL.
fStatistical analyses using the Mann-Whitney U test between two groups and the Kruskal–Wallis H test between three groups. The overall p-value represents direct comparisons between HIV-uninfected women and women living with HIV.