For people with immunodeficiency, COVID-19 turned out to be especially dangerous: in such people, the risk of death from coronavirus infection is increased by 30%, according to the results of a large international study released by scientists from the World Health Organization.
A study conducted by WHO scientists in 24 countries covered the data of over 268,400 patients hospitalized with severe complications of COVID-19. Among them, there were 15,500 people with HIV infection, 37% were men, the average age was 45.5 years. Most of them (92%) received antiretroviral drugs on a regular basis.
After adjusting the data taking into account various factors, including the presence of chronic diseases in patients, the scientists concluded that the presence of HIV infection increases the likelihood of death from coronavirus infection by at least 30%. COVID-19 is especially dangerous for men over 65 years old – half of the hospitalized patients in this group have an extremely high risk of mortality.
Some experts who attended the conference, where they presented the results of the study, noted that adjusting the data for chronic diseases distorts the real picture since HIV is an independent risk factor for heart disease, cancer, and other pathologies. Therefore, in fact, the risk of mortality in HIV patients is significantly higher than 30%.
Afhil.com