An HIV-infected patient with coronavirus disease 2019 has a favourable prognosis: a case report

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread rapidly, which now has turned into a pandemic. The new emerging infectious disease has raised many challenges and uncertainties regarding disease management and prognosis in immunocompromised patient populations. The risk of COVID-19 among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has different opinions. Some scholars speculated that patients with HIV may be at decreased risk for complications of COVID-19 because HIV antiretroviral medications may have activity against coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2. But others have the opposite because of the immunosuppression for HIV patients. Here we reported a case of HIV-infected patient confirmed with COVID-19 and had a favourable prognosis. The patient was a 24-year-old male who was diagnosed with HIV infection 2 years ago and then followed a regular antiretroviral therapy (ART). After infected with COVID-19, the patient had no other clinical symptoms and laboratory abnormalities throughout the course of the disease except presented with fever for a short-term (2 days), and no secondary infection or exacerbation occurred after admission in hospital. Follow-up chest CT showed that the lung lesions disappeared within a short period of time. After standard treatment by 9 days, the patient was cured and discharged. This report highlights the importance of ART for HIV-infected persons, and with regular ART for HIV patients may reduce adverse consequences after infection with COVID-19.