Why carry out this study?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a major public health crisis globally. The correlation between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and COVID-19 remains unclear.

People living with HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (PLWHA) are generally thought to be at a higher risk for developing a severe course and outcome of COVID-19 infection due to immunodeficiency. Therefore, there is an underlying interest to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on this population.

What was learned from the study?

This study defined a total of 203,761 patients with COVID-19 (7718 PLWHA vs. 196,043 non-PLWHA). Meta-analyses showed estimated prevalence and mortality rate of COVID-19 in PLWHA was 0.774% and 8.814%, respectively.

This study indicated increased mortality among COVID-19 co-infected PLWHA having co-morbid conditions such as diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, hypertensionand chronic cardiac disease.

No statistical significance was observed in mortality between PLWHA and non-PLWHA.

Further studies are needed to address the role of cluster of differentiation 4 cells, HIV viral load, and antiretroviral therapy in COVID-19 co-infection.