COVID-19 Closures Delayed Viral Load Checks in People With HIV

Early COVID-19 pandemic closures hampered viral load monitoring of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), suggest results from single-clinic study published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

“This was an observational analysis of viral loads of people with HIV in routine care at a large subspecialty clinic,” wrote researchers from the Johns Hopkins schools of medicine and public health. “At pandemic onset, the clinic temporarily closed its onsite laboratory.”

The study looked at changes in the time between viral load checks during three periods: pre-pandemic (January 1, 2019, through March 15, 2020), pandemic lab-closed (March 16, 2020, through July 12, 2020); and pandemic lab-open (July 13, 2020, through December 31, 2020).

Compared with the pre-pandemic period, hazard ratios for next viral load check for patients with viral suppression were 0.34 during the pandemic lab-closed period and 0.73 during the pandemic lab-open period for suppressed patients. For patients without viral suppression, hazard ratios for next viral load check were 0.56 during the pandemic lab-closed period and 0.92 during the pandemic lab-open period.

The 12-month cumulative incidence of loss of suppression was the same, 4%, for both the pre-pandemic and the pandemic lab-open periods, the study showed. Compared with the pre-pandemic period, however, the pandemic lab-open period had a 0.68 hazard ratio for re-suppression following the loss of viral suppression.

“Early pandemic restrictions and lab closure significantly delayed viral load monitoring,” researchers concluded. “Once the lab re-opened, non-suppressed patients resumed normal monitoring. Suppressed patients still had a delay, but no significant loss of suppression.”

Reference:
El-Nahal WG, Shen NM, Keruly JC, et al. Time between viral loads for people with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. Published online May 26, 2022. doi:10.1097/QAI.0000000000003026