SARS-CoV-2 Infection Is Associated with Uncontrolled HIV Viral Load in Non-Hospitalized HIV-Infected Patients from Gugulethu, South Africa

Humaira Lambarey; Melissa J Blumenthal; Abeen Chetram; Wendy Joyimbana; Lauren Jennings; Marius B Tincho; Wendy A Burgers; Catherine Orrell; Georgia Schäfer

doi:10.3390/v14061222

SARS-CoV-2 Infection Is Associated with Uncontrolled HIV Viral Load in Non-Hospitalized HIV-Infected Patients from Gugulethu, South Africa

Viruses. 2022 Jun 3;14(6):1222. doi: 10.3390/v14061222.

Authors

Humaira Lambarey^{1

2

3}, Melissa J Blumenthal^{1

2

3}, Abeen Chetram¹, Wendy Joyimbana⁴, Lauren Jennings⁴, Marius B Tincho^{2

5}, Wendy A Burgers^{2

5

6}, Catherine Orrell^{2

4}, Georgia Schäfer^{1

2

3

6}

Affiliations

¹ International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
² Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM), University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
³ Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, Division of Medical Biochemistry, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
⁴ Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
⁵ Department of Pathology, Division of Medical Virology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
⁶ Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.

Abstract

In South Africa, high exposure to SARS-CoV-2 occurs primarily in densely populated, low-income communities, which are additionally burdened by highly prevalent Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). With the aim to assess SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and its association with HIV-related clinical parameters in non-hospitalized patients likely to be highly exposed to SARS-CoV-2, this observational cross-sectional study was conducted at the Gugulethu Community Health Centre Antiretroviral clinic between October 2020 and June 2021, after the first COVID-19 wave in South Africa and during the second and beginning of the third wave. A total of 150 adult (median age 39 years [range 20−65 years]) HIV-infected patients (69% female; 31% male) were recruited. 95.3% of the cohort was on antiretroviral therapy (ART), had a median CD4 count of 220 cells/µL (range 17−604 cells/µL) and a median HIV viral load (VL) of 49 copies/mL (range 1−1,050,867 copies/mL). Furthermore, 106 patients (70.7%) were SARS-CoV-2 seropositive, and 0% were vaccinated. When stratified for HIV VL, patients with uncontrolled HIV viremia (HIV VL > 1000 copies/mL) had significantly higher odds of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity than patients with HIV VL < 1000 copies/mL, after adjusting for age, sex and ART status (p = 0.035, adjusted OR 2.961 [95% CI: 1.078−8.133]). Although the cause−effect relationship could not be determined due to the cross-sectional study design, these results point towards a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility among viremic HIV patients, or impaired HIV viral control due to previous co-infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: ART; COVID-19; HIV; PLWH; SARS-CoV-2; South Africa; viral load.

Publication types

Observational Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
CD4 Lymphocyte Count
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
HIV Infections* / complications
HIV Infections* / drug therapy
HIV Infections* / epidemiology
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
SARS-CoV-2
Seroepidemiologic Studies
South Africa / epidemiology
Viral Load
Viremia / drug therapy
Viremia / epidemiology
Young Adult

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership EDCTP2 program supported by the European Union (EU)s Horizon 2020 program (Training and Mobility Action TMA2018SF-2446-KSHV/HIV morbidity), the National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa (grant number 142089) and the South African Medical Research Council (MRC).