Demographical, Viro-Immunological, Clinical and Therapeutical Characteristics of HIV-Infected Patients in an “Epidemiologically Unexplored” Region of Italy (Calabria Region): the CalabrHIV Cohort

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: HIV epidemics may differ among epidemiological contexts. We aimed at constructing an HIV clinical cohort whose main epidemiological, clinical and therapeutical characteristics are described (the CalabrHIV cohort, Calabria Region, Southern Italy). METHODS: The CalabrHIV Cohort includes all HIV patients on active follow-up in all infectious disease centers in the Calabria Region as at October 2014. All information was recorded in a common electronic database. Not-infectious co-morbidities (such as cardiovascular diseases, bone fractures, diabetes, renal failure and hypertension) were also studied. RESULTS: 548 patients (68% males; 59% aged <50 years) were included in the CalabrHIV cohort. Major risk factors were: sexual transmission (49%) and intravenous drug use (34%). 39% patients had HCV and/or HBV co-infection. Amongst 404 patients who had a complete clinical history, 34% were AIDS presenters and 49.3% had CD4 count ≤350/mm(3) at HIV diagnosis. 83% patients on HAART had undetectable HIV-RNA. Hypertension was the most frequent co-morbidity (21.5%). Multimorbidity was more frequent in >50 years old patients than in <50 years old ones (30% vs. 6%; p<0.0001). Co-morbidity was more frequent in HCV and/or HBV co-infected than in HIV mono-infected patients (46.6% vs. 31.7%: p=0.0006). CONCLUSION: This cohort presentation study sheds light, for the first time, on HIV patients’ characteristics in the Calabria Region. We showed that HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis were affected by concomitant not-infectious co-morbidities more than the HIV mono-infected individuals. New HCV treatments are therefore to be implemented in the co-infected population.