Abstract
Epidemiological data demonstrate the greater severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HIV patients along with the more hospitalization, and mortality rates. Thus, this meta-analysis aimed to assess the possible differences in hospitalization, mortality, and the CD4 T cell counts between COVID-19/HIV co-infected patients and the control group. The relevant studies were obtained from online databases such as Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar using Mesh and Non-Mesh keywords and the meta-analysis was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols checklist. Then, the Newcastle–Ottawa scale (NOS) checklist was used to assess the quality of selected studies. According to the random effect models, the odds ratios of hospitalization, mortality, and CD4 T cell counts were estimated. The odds ratios of hospitalization and mortality rates in COVID-19 patients with HIV were 1.67 (confidence interval [CI]: 0.76 to 3.71) and 0.80 (CI: 0.57 to 1.11), respectively, compared to that of the COVID-19 group. In this meta-analysis, there was no statistically significant difference in the rates of hospitalization, mortality, and CD4 T cell counts between COVID-19 patients with HIV and the control group. The similarity between the studied groups could be attributed to factors such as the rarity of COVID-19/HIV co-infection patients and the presence of random error, administration of antiretroviral therapy in HIV patients, and early hospitalization time in COVID-19/HIV co-infected patients.
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