COVID-19 mortality among people with diagnosed HIV compared to those without during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in England

Objectives: We describe COVID-19 mortality among people with and without HIV during the first wave of the pandemic in England. / Methods: National surveillance data on adults (aged ≥ 15 years) with diagnosed HIV resident in England were linked to national COVID-19 mortality surveillance data (2 March 2020–16 June 2020); HIV clinicians verified linked cases and provided information on the circumstances of death. We present COVID-19 mortality rates by HIV status, using negative binomial regression to assess the association between HIV and mortality, adjusting for gender, age and ethnicity. / Results: Overall, 99 people with HIV, including 61 of black ethnicity, died of/with COVID-19 (107/100 000) compared with 49 483 people without HIV (109/100 000). Compared to people without HIV, higher COVID-19 mortality rates were observed in people with HIV of black (188 vs. 122/100 000) and Asian (131 vs. 77.0/100 000) ethnicity, and in both younger (15–59 years: 58.3 vs. 10.2/100 000) and older (≥ 60 years: 434 vs. 355/100 000) people. After adjustment for demographic factors, people with HIV had a higher COVID-19 mortality risk than those without (2.18; 95% CI: 1.76–2.70). Most people with HIV who died of/with COVID-19 had suppressed HIV viraemia (91%) and at least one comorbidity reported to be associated with poor COVID-19 outcomes (87%). / Conclusions: In the first wave of the pandemic in England, COVID-19 mortality among people with HIV was low, but was higher than in those without HIV, after controlling for demographic factors. This supports the strategy of prioritizing COVID-19 vaccination for people with HIV and strongly encouraging its uptake, especially in those of black and Asian ethnicity

Anti-microbial activity of Mucosal Associated Invariant T cells

International audienceMucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) lymphocytes are characterized by two evolutionarily conserved features: an invariant TCRα chain and restriction by the MHC-related protein, MR1. Here we show that MAIT cells are activated by cells infected with different strains of bacteria and yeasts, but not viruses, both in human and mouse. This activation requires cognate interaction between the invariant T cell receptor (TCR) and MR1, which can present a bacteria-derived ligand. In humans, we observe a striking diminution of MAIT cell blood-numbers in patients with bacterial infections such as tuberculosis. In mouse, MAIT cells protect against infections by Mycobacterium and Escherichia coli. Thus, MAIT cells are evolutionarily conserved innate-like lymphocytes that sense and help fight off microbial infections