ABSTRACT Background and Aims The COVID‐19 pandemic impacted daily life and healthcare. This study investigated how this affected the outcome in children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS. Methods This study investigated medical visits and outcomes (viral load, immunological parameters) in participants in the German Pediatric and Adolescent HIV cohort for 30 months, covering a period before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Results Fifty‐two participants receiving antiretroviral therapy (27 females, 25 males; median age: 18 years, IQR: 15.0, 22.0) were analysed. Fifty percent of patients had fewer medical visits, 21% had an unchanged number of visits, and 29% had more medical visits when comparing the pandemic period with the prior period. ( p = 0.016). This decline is primarily attributed to the first phase of the pandemic, where the incidence ratio of medical controls was 0.66 (95% CI 0.42–0.97) compared to the previous period ( p = 0.05). In male patients, there was a significant reduction in medical visits which was not seen in females. Among male patients, 60% experienced a decrease in control visits, while 20% remained unchanged ( p = 0.015). Age of the patients was significantly negatively associated with number of visits (rho = −0.39; 95% CI −0.63 to −0.15; p = 0.004) before and during the pandemic (rho = −0.37; 95% CI −0.58 to −0.12; p = 0.007). Half of the participants did not present with positive viral loads (≥ 20 cps/mL) in any of the two periods. Borderline cases of viral load measurements increased during the pandemic from 38% to 62% cases ( p = 0.03), with the largest difference during the first wave. Conclusion Overall, the study shows a negative impact during the COVID‐19 pandemic on the outcome in children and adolescents living with HIV in Germany and indicates the fragile nature of virological control in this population. Appropriate measures including virtual consultations should be implemented to improve outcome in future pandemic situations.
Hante et al. (Thu,) studied this question.