HIV Screening During the Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic in a Respiratory-Emergencies Unit from a Single-Hospital in Mexico
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47363/JIDSCR/2021(2)140Keywords:
HIV Screening, Coronavirus Disease-19 PandemicAbstract
The COVID-19 has affected million people around the world with Mexico being one of the most affected countries. This pandemic has impacted the continuum of care for people living with HIV so it was decided to know the frequency and usefulness of performing rapid HIV tests during COVID-19 pandemic.
Material And Methods: Prospective study to know the frequency of new HIV infections among persons admitted in a tertiary care hospital located in Mexico and reconverted for the attention of patients with suspected or confirmed infection by SARS-CoV2. The subjects included in the study were performed with HIV rapid test and those with positive HIV rapid test were evaluated for western blot, HIV viral load, and CD4 cells count as well as RT-PCR for SARS-CoV2.
Results: A total of 12 patients with HIV infection were admitted to the hospital during the period from March to October 2020, of which 7 were new cases. 240 rapid HIV tests were performed on 233 subjects, of which 225 (96.5%) were negative and 8 were positive (point-of-care incidence: 3.43%). The naive subjects (7) had reactive ELISA/Western blot tests and their mean age was 38.5 years (5D = 13.8) , Six subjects (87.5%) were men and 4 (57.1%) of those had male-sex-male relationships as a risk factor for HIV. The mean CD4 count and HIV viral load were 24 cells/ul and 456 855 copies/ml, respectively. Only one patient had co-infection with SARS-CoV2 confirmed by RT-PCR
Conclusion: Screening for the diagnosis of new cases of HIV infection is feasible, useful, and safe to perform during the COVID-19 pandemic. This simple procedure could help to not miss the opportunities to diagnose and link to care for subjects living with HIV, to better understand the local prevalence of HIV infection, and reinforce a current need for HIV education for health personnel working in emergency services, particularly because HIV complications can mimic other infections including those produced by SARS-CoV2.
