Population-based assessment of SARS-CoV-2 infection among people living with HIV and the general population of Catalonia (March-December, 2020)

Introduction: It is unclear if SARS-CoV-2 has affected people living with HIV (PLWH) more.Methods: We compared SARS-CoV-2 testing, test positivity, hospitalisation, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and mortality between PLWH and the general HIV-negative population of Catalonia, Spain from March 1 to December 15, 2020.Results: SARS-CoV-2 testing was lower among PLWH 3556/13,142 (27.06%) compared to the general HIV-negative population 1,954,902/6,446,672 (30.32%) (p < 0.001) but test positivity was higher among PLWH (21.06% vs. 15.82%, p < 0.001). We observed no significant differences between PLWH and the general population in terms of hospitalisation (13.75% vs. 14.97%, p = 0.174) and ICU admission (0.93% vs. 1.66%, p = 0.059). Among positive cases, we found a lower mortality rate among PLWH compared to the general population (1.74% vs 3.64%, p = 0.002).Conclusion: PLWH tested less frequently for SARS-CoV-2, had a higher test positivity, similar ICU admis-sion and hospitalisation rates, and lower SARS-CoV-2-associated mortality compared to the general HIV-negative population.(c) 2022 Sociedad Espan similar to ola de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiologi ' a Cli ' nica. Published by Elsevier Espan similar to a, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study compared the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on people living with HIV (PLWH) and the general HIV-negative population in Catalonia, Spain. The findings showed that PLWH had lower testing rates but higher test positivity for SARS-CoV-2 compared to the general population. There were no significant differences in hospitalization and ICU admission rates, but PLWH had a lower mortality rate.