Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted routine HIV screening in healthcare settings. This has serious implications, especially for patients with acute HIV infection (AHI) presenting with symptoms suggesting COVID-19 infection. This is a high priority population for rapid linkage to care (LTC) and initiation of HAART.
We reviewed data from our eXpanded HIV Testing and LTC (X-TLC) Program, a collaboration effort between 13 healthcare centers on the South and West Sides of Chicago. Since 2016, most sites had 4th or 5th generation HIV Ag/Ab testing available.
Most sites experienced reductions in HIV screens during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advanced planning by our ED incorporated blood draws for HIV screens as part of COVID-19 evaluations. UCM performed 19,111 HIV screens (11,133 in the ED) between 1/1/20 and 8/17/20, along with 100,635 COVID PCRs (14,754 in ED) between 3/17/20 and 8/17/20. Nine patients were diagnosed with AHI after the first case of COVID-19 in Chicago (1/24/20), and 7 were diagnosed after the first case of community transmission in Cook County (3/8/20). All cases of AHI were diagnosed in the ED. The rate of AHI was significantly higher in 2020 versus the prior 4 years (14.4 vs 6.8 per year, p < 0.05). AHI patients comprised 25.7 % (9/35) of all new diagnoses, the highest percent ever. There were 7 men (6 identified as MSM) and 2 cis-gender women, median age of 25 years (21 to 28 years). The median viral load was 6 million (115,000 to > 6 million) copies/mL. Eight of 9 patients presented with an illness indistinguishable from COVID-19, including 1co-infected patient. All were LTC and started on HAART from time of PCR result within a median of 1 day (0–38), but 3 days (range 1–41) from sample collection as a result of delayed reflex PCR confirmatory testing due to high demands on lab personnel and scarcity of reagents due to COVID-19 PCR volumes (since resolved).
HIV Screening and COVID-19 Testing in the ED During COVID-19
Continued HIV screening in our ED during the COVID-19 pandemic identified an increased number of patients with AHI. These individuals may be more likely to present for care due to fear of COVID-19 infection. We achieved rapid LTC and initiation of HAART without any incremental increases in resources. All HIV screening programs should incorporate blood-based HIV screening into their COVID-19 testing programs.
Moira McNulty, MD, MS, Gilead Sciences (Grant/Research Support)
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