Intractable Rare Dis Res. 2020;9(4):256-259. (DOI: 10.5582/irdr.2020.03081)

A case of coronavirus disease 2019 in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patient: a case report and review of the literature

Qasim A, Mansour M, Kousa O, Awad D, Abuhazeem B, Millner P, Velagapudi M

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus that was identified in December 2019. The impact of COVID-19 virus on Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients has been reported with variable outcome. We reported a patient that was immunosuppressed by AIDS disease and chemotherapy for cancer who contracted SARS-CoV-2 infection and had a mild disease. We did literature review for the cases published that had human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and COVID-19 disease and analyzed the characteristics and outcomes of the reported cases. Our review yielded three case reports and four case series for patients with HIV infection and COVID-19 disease. The majority of patients had mild disease, and some had critical disease or death. Those who had severe disease usually had other comorbidities. The findings from the case reports and case series indicate that the risk of death or severe disease from COVID-19 in HIV positive patients was lower than observed in the general population, which may indicate a possible protective effect of uncontrolled HIV in preventing the complications associated with the massive inflammatory response.

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