“HIV patients can get COVID, but they are not more at risk to get COVID, so they should follow the same precautions and guidelines and get vaccinated, same as everyone else”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — HIV-positive patients accounted for less than one percent of all coronavirus infections and deaths in The Bahamas, according to data provided by Director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme Dr Nikkiah Forbes.
She said this indicates that the grouping, though immunocompromised, has not been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
In recent months, researchers and health experts have advised that people with immunocompromised conditions should be monitored for persistent COVID infections.
According to research, this group poses a greater risk for developing severe COVID, can experience prolonged infections and can be more contagious for longer periods, though studies are ongoing.
KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) Director Professor Tulio de Oliveira, who announced the discovery of a new variant, omicron, during a briefing last Tuesday, said: “That is something that the scientific community knows quite well since the emergence of the first variant.”
However, since the onset of the pandemic last March, just 18 patients with COVID-19 had HIV of the more than 22,000 people who were infected with COVID.
Of those, three HIV patients died from COVID at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH).
This represents a six percent mortality rate among HIV patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19, well below the clinical surveillance data reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this year.
In July, that WHO report warned HIV infection is a “significant independent risk factor” for severe COVID-19 presentation, hospital admission and in-hospital mortality.
According to the report, nearly a quarter — 23.1 percent — of all people living with HIV who were hospitalized with COVID-19 died.
Forbes, in an interview with Eyewitness News, asked: “So, what does that tell us?
“HIV patients are not at an increased risk of getting COVID.
“HIV patients can get COVID, but they are not more at risk to get COVID, so they should follow the same precautions and guidelines and get vaccinated, same as everyone else.
“We know COVID spreads in the air, so we’re all suspectable if we’re not following the precautions.
“We need to follow the precautions and if you have HIV or any other medical problem, do prioritize protecting yourself — vaccination, mask-wearing, the public health protocols, avoiding crowds, keeping six feet apart and not touching your face.
“Those are all very, very important things to prevent getting COVID overall and not doing badly with it.”
Forbes added: “Interestingly, when we looked at those numbers at PMH from the beginning of the outbreak last March, we have only had 18 people in that time.
“With thousands of patients, only 18 had HIV also and only about two or three died with HIV in the COVID deaths out of many hundreds.”
A third shot or booster is being rolled out for the immunocompromised in The Bahamas.
