Effect of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection on the Incidence and Severity of Neurological Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19
Mustafa Jaffry1, Kranthi Mandava1, Kazim Jaffry1, Muhammed Ors1, Anam Shaikh1, Ronak Trivedi1, Iqra Faiz1, Firas Gerges2, Michel Boufadel2, Nizar Souayah1
1New Jersey Medical School, 2New Jersey Institute of Technology
Objective:
To investigate whether HIV infection is an independent prognostic factor of neurological post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). 
Background:

HIV has been linked to an increase in severity of symptoms of PASC.

Design/Methods:
COVID-19 inpatients from a tertiary care center were collected and retrospectively studied for presence of neurological PASC symptoms, 4 weeks to up to 1 year after their first inpatient admission COVID-19. Patients with HIV and COVID-19 were compared to non-HIV COVID-19 patients. All demographic, nominal and inpatient data including length of stay, discharge, medications and lab data was compared. The proportion of patients reporting neurological PASC symptoms in HIV vs non-HIV patients with a history of COVID-19 were compared. 
Results:

277 patients who had an outpatient follow-up or were readmitted to the hospital were reviewed. 27 patients had HIV and 22 followed up. There was no significant difference in age between HIV and non-HIV groups (55.3±11.3 vs 52.5±18.5 p>0.05) For HIV vs non-HIV patients with a history of COVID-19, numbness (18.2% vs 10.5%) paresthesias (9.1% vs 7.5%), brain fog or cognitive impairment (9.1% vs 6.7%), weakness (18.1% vs 27.1%), fatigue (31.2% vs 30.6%), headaches (18.1% vs 16.9%), changes in smell of taste (18.1% or 11.7), sleep issues or insomnia (13.6% vs 9.4%) and anxiety or depression (27.7% vs 18.0%) were reported between 4 weeks and 1 year after admission. Although there is an increased incidence of most neurological PASC symptoms in HIV compared to non-HIV, the difference did not reach significance.

Conclusions:

This preliminary analysis of COVID-19 patients with 1 year follow-up demonstrates that the incidence of neurological symptoms of PASC in HIV patients vs non-HIV patients did not significantly differ. The incidence reported in this study agrees with prior literature on the incidence of neurological PASC. Work is in progress expand the study size and control for concomitant neurological conditions.

10.1212/WNL.0000000000203362