Seroprevalence of COVID-19 in HIV Population

ABSTRACT

BackgroundSeroprevalence helps us to estimate the exact prevalence of a disease in a population. Although the world has been battling this pandemic for more than a year now, we still do not know about the burden of this disease in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). Seroprevalence data in this population subset is scarce in most parts of the world, including India. The current study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody among PLHA. AimTo determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in PLHA. MethodThis was a cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary care hospital in North India. We recruited HIV positive patients following at the ART centre of the institute. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody levels targeting recombinant spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) protein of SARS CoV-2 were estimated in serum sample by the chemiluminescent immunoassay method. ResultsA total of 164 patients were recruited in the study with a mean age ({+/-}SD) of 41.2 ({+/-}15.4) years, of which 55% were male. Positive serology against SARS CoV-2 was detected in 14% patients (95% CI 9.1-20.3%). ConclusionThe seroprevalence of COVID-19 infection in PLHA was lower than the general population in the same region, which ranged from 23.48% to 28.3% around the study period.