Case Reports on COVID-19 Outcomes During the Pandemic in Patients with Well-Managed HIV Infection in Latvia

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to a global pandemic with serious implications and open questions for all areas of medicine, including immunocompromised patients. In Latvia, as of the end of 2022, 229 new cases of HIV were registered, reflecting an incidence rate of 12.2 per 100,000 people. Despite the fact that immunocompromised patients are at risk of poor outcomes of COVID-19, there is currently no evidence that clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in people living with HIV (PLWH) differ from those in the general population, provided these patients have well-controlled immune status (CD4+ count > 200 and undetectable viral load). We report two cases of COVID-19, specifically the Delta variant, in male patients with well-controlled HIV infection who had received three vaccine doses against COVID 19. Both patients fully recovered within one week without complications, requiring no specific treatment. Considering the current published data and our observations, it can be assumed that the course of COVID-19 in vaccinated well-controlled HIV patients does not differ from the typical clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in the general population. It is necessary to decrease vaccine hesitancy among PLWH, as COVID-19 vaccination is a crucial measure to safeguard this segment of the population against poor outcomes of COVID-19 such as hospitalisation, the risk of long-term health problems, severe disease, and death).