Heightened Risk of Blood Clotting in Young AIDS Patients and Young Coronavirus Patients

COVID-19 linked to increase in clotting, and is causing strokes in young people and doctors don’t know why

They think that the virus may bind to receptors on endothelial cells, which are found on the inside of blood vessels, like veins and arteries. It’s possible that the virus’s presence there triggers an immune reaction to the foreign substance which results in clotting, Mocco says—and it’s those clots which, if they travel to the brain, can cause stroke. In other organs, they can cause damage by preventing blood from flowing normally. Doctors are seeing an uptick in these conditions, too, in young COVID-19 patients who without the infection would rarely develop them.

HIV Linked to Increased Risk of Blood Clots in Young People

People with HIV who are younger than 50 may be at an increased risk of potentially fatal blood clotting, called venous thrombosis, suggests a study published in the May issue of AIDS Patient Care and STDs (2002;16:205-209). 

People with HIV who are younger than 50 may be at an increased risk of potentially fatal blood clotting, called venous thrombosis, suggests a study published in the May issue of AIDS Patient Care and STDs (2002;16:205-209). 

Although the scope of the problem needs to be examined further, the study alerts physicians who treat HIV patients to the risk of these blood clots, according to lead author Dr. Peter R. Smith of Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. 

Several years ago, if an HIV-positive person had shortness of breath and other signs of lung illness, Smith explained, a doctor would have considered the possibility that the person had pneumocystis carinii pneumonia or other common HIV-related infections. 

Based on the results of this study, it would be a good idea to consider a pulmonary embolism -- a blood clot in the lungs -- as the source of the respiratory symptoms, he said. Venous thromboembolism occurs when a blood clot or other blockage forms in the deep veins of the legs. If the clot breaks free and travels to the lungs, it may block an artery in the lungs, causing pulmonary embolism.