Pre-exposure prophylaxis during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: can PrEP prevent COVID-19-related symptoms?

Epidemiol Infect. 2020 Sep 28:148:e231. doi: 10.1017/S0950268820002253.

Abstract

It has been speculated that some drugs can be used against SARS-CoV-2. As for antiretrovirals, the follow-up of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) users during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak may help to understand the potential protective effect of PrEP against SARS-CoV-2. We aimed to identify associations between oral PrEP use and COVID-19-related symptoms self-reporting. Phone call interviews or digital investigation (through WhatsApp® or e-mail) about oral PrEP regular use, social distancing, exposure to suspected or confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19-related symptoms. Among 108 individuals, the majority were cisgender, white and gay men. Although most of the individuals engaged in social distancing (68.52%), they kept on taking PrEP (75.93%). Few people have had contact with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 (12.04%), but some had COVID-19-related symptoms the month before the interview (27.78%) including rhinorrheoa (56.67%), cough (53.33%), asthaenia (50.00%) and headache (43.33%). Also, oral PrEP was associated with lower self-reporting COVID-19-symptoms (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.07-0.96, P = 0.04; h = 0.92) even after controlling confounders as social distancing, age, body-mass index and morbidities . In our sample, the regular use of oral PrEP was associated with lower self-reporting of COVID-19-related symptoms during the outbreak in São Paulo, Brazil.

Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus disease; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Influenza, Human; Pandemics; Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP); SARS-CoV-2; flu-like.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Betacoronavirus / physiology
  • Brazil / epidemiology
  • COVID-19
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Coronavirus Infections / drug therapy*
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology
  • Coronavirus Infections / pathology
  • Coronavirus Infections / prevention & control
  • Female
  • HIV Infections / drug therapy
  • HIV Infections / prevention & control
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pandemics / prevention & control
  • Pneumonia, Viral / drug therapy*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology
  • Pneumonia, Viral / pathology
  • Pneumonia, Viral / prevention & control
  • Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis*
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Sexual and Gender Minorities