While very few studies have so far focused on the impact of HIV infection on the severity and mortality of Covid, a new study conducted by the WHO confirms that people infected with the HIV virus AIDS are more at risk of developing a severe form of Covid-19.

According to a study carried out by the World Health Organization, people infected with the AIDS virus are at greater risk of developing a severe form of Covid-19. To reach this finding, the WHO based itself on data from 15 people infected with HIV and hospitalized after contracting Covid-000. Of all the cases studied, 19% were on antiretroviral therapy for HIV prior to hospitalization. According to the study, carried out across 92 countries around the world, more than a third had a severe or critical form of the coronavirus and 24% of patients, with documented clinical outcomes, died in hospital.

In a press release, the WHO explains that by taking into account other factors (age or the presence of other health problems), the results of the study reveal that ” HIV infection is a significant risk factor for both severe and critical forms of Covid-19 at the time of hospitalization, and for hospital mortality ».

Despite several alerts launched by associations, the risk of severe form of Covid-19 for people infected with HIV was not yet clearly defined as explained by the WHO: ” Until then, the impact of HIV infection on the severity and mortality of Covid was relatively unknown, and the conclusions of previous studies were sometimes contradictory “. From now on, it is therefore essential to include people with AIDS among the priority people for vaccination against the coronavirus.

According to the president of the International AIDS Society (IAS), Adeeba Kamarulzaman, “ this study highlights the importance of including people living with HIV in priority populations for vaccination against Covid “. Still according to her, “ the international community must do more to ensure that countries severely affected by HIV have immediate access to Covid vaccines. It is unacceptable that less than 3% of the African continent has received one dose of vaccine and less than 1,5% has had two ».