SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1: Should HIV-1-infected individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa be considered a priority group for the COVID-19 vaccines?
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Mandala, Wilson L
Liu, Michael KP
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Since its emergence in 2019 SARS-CoV-2 has proven to have a higher level of morbidity and mortality compared to the other prevailing coronaviruses. Although initially most African countries were spared from the devastating effect of SARS-CoV-2, at present almost every country has been affected. Although no association has been established between being HIV-1-infected and being more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, HIV-1-infected individuals have a greater risk of developing severe COVID-19 and of COVID-19 related mortality. The rapid development of the various types of COVID-19 vaccines has gone a long way in mitigating the devastating effects of the virus and has controlled its spread. However, global vaccine deployment has been uneven particularly in Africa. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as Beta and Delta, which seem to show some subtle resistance to the existing vaccines, suggests COVID-19 will still be a high-risk infection for years. In this review we report on the current impact of COVID-19 on HIV-1-infected individuals from an immunological perspective and attempt to make a case for prioritising COVID-19 vaccination for those living with HIV-1 in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries like Malawi as one way of minimising the impact of COVID-19 in these countries.
Date Issued
2021-11-08
Date Acceptance
2021-10-25
Citation
Frontiers in Immunology, 2021, 12
ISSN
1664-3224
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Immunology
Volume
12
Copyright Statement
© 2021 Mandala and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
License URL
Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Subjects
1107 Immunology
1108 Medical Microbiology
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 797117