Reports conflict on how
HIV infection influences the
clinical course of
COVID-19. The New York City (NYC) public hospital system provides care for over 14,000 people with HIV, was central in responding to the
COVID-19 pandemic, and is therefore in a unique position to evaluate the intersection of these concurrent
infections. Retrospective chart review of patients presenting to NYC Health and Hospitals (NYC H+H) diagnosed with
COVID-19 infection from March 1, 2020, through April 28, 2020, compared people living with HIV (PLWH) and a propensity-matched (PM) control group of patients without HIV to evaluate associations between HIV status and
COVID-19 outcomes. Two hundred thirty-four PLWH presented for
COVID-19 testing and 110 (47%) were diagnosed with
COVID-19. Among 17,413 patients with
COVID-19 and without HIV, 1:n nearest neighbor propensity score matching identified 194 patients matched on age, sex, race, and any comorbidity. In the sample with
COVID-19 (N = 304), PLWH (9.1%) had lower rates of mortality than controls [19.1%; PM odds ratio (PM-OR): 0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.19-0.86]. Among hospitalized
COVID-19 patients (N = 179),
HIV infection was associated with lower rates of
mechanical ventilation (PM-OR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.11-0.84) and mortality (PM-OR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0. 17-0.95). In the extended pandemic period through April 2021, aggregate data by HIV status suggested elevated hospitalization and mortality rates in PLWH versus people without HIV. These results suggest that the direct biological impacts of the HIV virus do not negatively influence COVID-19-related outcomes when controlling for comorbidity and demographic variables.