The COVID-19 Pandemic Could Cause A Surge In The Incidence Of HIV Infection In Russia

The COVID-19 pandemic could cause a surge in the incidence of HIV infection in Russia

This was stated by experts during an online RBC conference dedicated to the problem of the spread of HIV infection among children in Russia.

Photo: Fusion Medical Animation

According to Oksana Pushkina, State Duma deputy and member of the Board of Trustees of the AIDS.CENTER Foundation, due to the spread of the coronavirus, some medical centers where you can get tested for HIV are working intermittently. This can lead to the fact that infected people will not be able to know about their diagnosis in time and continue to infect others.

Yevgeny Voronin, the chief freelance specialist on diagnostics and treatment of HIV infection of the Ministry of Health, spoke in a similar vein. He noted that today 70% of Russian centers for the prevention and control of HIV are somehow involved in the fight against the pandemic, so there may be problems with identifying new cases. At the same time, all these institutions are trying to maintain the level of diagnosis and prevention, especially for people with HIV infection who are at risk.

“Our task now is to focus on the three main vulnerable groups with HIV, and primarily pregnant women. If today we miss something in the prevention of a pregnant woman, tomorrow we will get an HIV-infected child. The second risk group is children with HIV, as their disease progresses faster than in adults and there are half the drugs available for them. Well, the third risk group is immunodeficient patients who are most vulnerable to coronavirus,”said Yevgeny Voronin.

According to Elena Baybarina, Director of the Department of Medical Care for Children and Obstetrics Service of the Russian Ministry of Health, at the moment there have been no cases of COVID-19 in pregnant women with HIV infection in Russia. According to her, such women do not require separate conditions for obstetrics, safety measures for working with blood are the same for everyone.

The experts also recalled that timely HIV diagnostics and drug therapy can minimize viral load. According to Yevgeny Voronin, in 2000, less than half of HIV-infected women in the country were registered, which is why 20% of the children of such women were born infected. Currently, the number of children infected by mothers is 1.5%.

“If a mother registers on time and takes therapy, the transmission of HIV to the child is practically impossible,” said Oksana Pushkina.