sars-cov-2 infection in iranian people living with human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection

Background: a novel coronavirus first emerging in wuhan, china, was named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2). the disease caused by sars-cov-2 is known as coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19). hiv-1 infected individuals may be at risk of covid-19. objectives: this cross-sectional study evaluated the sars-cov-2 infection rateandcovid-19 prevalenceamongiranian hiv-1-infected people. methods: the study was conducted on 155 hiv-1-infected patients from june 2020 to october 2020. covid-19 ab (igg) was detected using an enzyme immunoassay in serum specimens. furthermore, nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal specimens were collected. then, the genomic rna of sars-cov-2 was detected using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr). clinical symptoms of the studied participants with and without covid-19 were examined. results: of 155 hiv-1-infected individuals, 12 (7.7%) had positive real-time pcr results for sars-cov-2. out of 12 (7.7%) patients with covid-19, four (33.3%) were males. anti-covid ab (igg) was detected in 10 (6.5%) participants, of whom eight (80.0%) were males. the most common covid-19 clinical symptoms, including dry cough, fever, runny nose, anosmia, and hypogeusia, were observed in seven (58.3%), five (41.7%), five (41.7%), five (41.7%), and five (41.7%) patients with covid-19, respectively. conclusions: a recent study has shown that the risk of sars-cov-2 infection in hiv-infected individuals is similar to that in the general population.