HIV and Parenteral Viral Hepatitis in the Co-Morbidity Structure of Patients with Post-COVID Syndrome

The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of HIV and blood-borne viral hepatitis markers among individuals with post-COVID syndrome.

Materials and methods. The study material consisted of blood plasma samples from 129 patients diagnosed with long COVID. The samples were tested for serological (ELISA with commercial kits, in case of Ag/Ab-HIV detection – Western blot) and molecular (PCR assay) markers.

Results and discussion. Evaluation of overall marker prevalence revealed complex relationships between HIV infection, viral hepatitis, and the development of post-COVID syndrome in the cohort. Our data demonstrate that among HIV-positive patients receiving antiretroviral therapy – who constituted 6.97 % of the study cohort – mild forms of COVID-19 were predominant (55.56 % of cases). This finding aligns with the current understanding of the modulating effect that immunosuppression has on the cytokine storm in case of COVID-19. Furthermore, analysis of the results revealed a higher detection rate of HCV RNA (1.55 %) compared to the general population. This observation warrants further investigation into the potential role of HCV in the development of long COVID, particularly in light of data suggesting prolonged SARS-CoV-2 viremia in this patient category. Conversely, the low prevalence of HB markers (7.75 % anti-HBcore antibodies with no HBsAg-positive cases) did not confirm their association with post-COVID syndrome in our sample, despite literature suggesting increased long COVID risk against chronic hepatitis B. Assessment of blood-borne infection prevalence among COVID-19 survivors may be valuable for early identification of high-risk patients developing post-COVID syndrome. The results emphasize the need for larger-scale studies to clarify pathogenic mechanisms of interaction between chronic viral infections and SARS-CoV-2, as well as to develop personalized monitoring and management approaches for high-risk long COVID patients.

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