ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: This study aims to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of HIV-patients about COVID-19 vaccination. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted by administering questionnaires to 160 patients followed by Amedeo di Savoia Hospital in Turin. Statistical analyses were performed in order to identify predictors of infection and severity of COVID-19 disease risk perception. RESULTS: The 86.2% of patients were vaccinated for COVID-19, while 7.6% do not intend to be vaccinated; 50.7% thought that there is a minimal risk to get COVID-19; 85.8% thought that COVID-19 is a serious illness. The 56% and the 36.5 thought that seropositivity carries a greater risk to develop respectively COVID-19-related complications or vaccine complications. At the multivariate analysis having a job, proactive research of vaccine information and being HIV+ for several years are related to a lower risk perception of infection. The perception of COVID-19 severity is influenced by age, by being LGB and by believing that HIV+ status correlates with a higher risk of developing complications from COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: as the pandemic can adversely impact the HIV care with increasing loss to follow-up, vaccination is essential to contrast infection in HIV+ patients. Our findings suggested that some HIV+ patients refuse vaccination against COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
: This study reports on hospital admission and outcomes of 69 HIV-infected individuals who were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection between February and May 2020, in a network of Italian centres. Patients' characteristics and median days between symptoms and diagnosis were similar by hospital admission, whereas admitted patients had lower nadir CD4 cells and current lymphocytes count. These values were also correlated to worse COVID-19 outcome. Antiretroviral drugs did not seem to be associated with disease severity.