Have heard a handful of anecdotes from Spain (and also now here in NYC) that HIV-infected persons on antiretroviral therapy appear to be less likely to contract Covid-19.
And, of course, as a corollary to this, I am wondering if HIV- persons taking emtricitabine-tenofovir ("PrEP") might also be.
Thirdly, there is the question of, contrary to popular presumption, HIV-infected persons due to unresolved aberrations in cell signaling or other unresolved immune defects might not advance to the most lethal extremes of infection, were they to become infected.
Best resource of data at this point, one might imagine, would be from countries in East Asia that appear to be coming out of (at least the first wave of) this. There are great community based HIV networks I am aware of in Spain, Italy, Germany, UK, others, but I hesitate to ask this of them now. But it seems important for many reasons. Tk u, Mike
That's a very interesting question! According to WHO, there is no evidence so far of increased risk of sars-cov-2 infection or increased risk of sereve covid-19 for HIV-infected individuals (as previously reported for sars-cov and mers previous pandemics). I'll follow this discussion closely.
Fernando, tks
I have reached out to docs with large HIV practices (or even MSM populations) in both Berlin and Milan. I wish I knew someone in South Korea or China. I'm mostly looking to disprove the hypothesis as much as to keep it alive: Does the immune dysfunction in HIV-infected individuals on suppressive therapy make them less likely to suffer the more severe sequelae of Covid-9 infection?
And are gay men on PrEP protected at all, from either infection or severe course.
If you know of any population surveys from 02-03 Sars outbreak, even that would be interesting. Tks!
BHIVA/EACS just released this, but it's just more of the same. No one knows anything. But neither are they really thinking for themselves-- or looking for clues that would lead one way or the other. I have a few docs here in NYC who are helping to review old studies/epi data though. Surely more to come. Tks
https://www.eacsociety.org/home/covid-19-and-hiv.html
Getting warmer! Found this this afternoon. Also going to check back in with my London School of Tropical Medicine friend who knows alot about these things. Tks!
We observed that 0 of 19 patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, including those with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), who were hospitalized together and who had close contact with 95 patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on the same hospital floor contracted SARS, whereas 6 of 28 medical workers who served on this floor contracted SARS while caring for these patients.
...
We hypothesize that existing infection with HIV-1 might interfere with replication of the SARS virus in the same host, such that HIV-1—infected patients did not become coinfected with SARS virus. We also postulate that treatment of patients with HIV-1/AIDS with HAART might prevent the development of SARS
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/38/7/1030/320978
(and this, later in paper:)
During the 2003 Prevention and Cure of SARS Seminar (Guangzhou) ... "despite data suggesting the potential efficacy of HAART [for the prevention of SARS], we do not advocate its routine use ... at this time. Instead, we suggest continued cooperation between SARS and AIDS clinicians and research scientists, both nationwide and internationally, to design and conduct clinical trials (or at least a trial that includes a comparison of a protease inhibitor—containing regimen with a protease inhibitor—free combination) in a timely manner in accordance with Good Clinical Practices."
The more "evolved" statement of current theory: that key protein/proteins on surface of Sars-Cov virus resemble/s similar protein/s on surface of hiv to an extent that the immune response of an hiv-infected person (with relatively in tact immune system) already kind of recognizes this new virus. Probably not 100% protection, but more like a vaccine that provides, what is it? 70 or 80 or even 90% protection?