Dr. Sebastian Ruhs, interim Chief Medical Officer and Director of Infectious Diseases, offered the following information for individuals living with HIV who are concerned about the effects of COVID-19.
"There is no data at this point to suggest that someone living with HIV is at higher risk, especially if their CD4 count is within range and their viral load is undetectable. We’re assuming that COVID-19 behaves in the same way as other illnesses we are very familiar with, such as influenza.
Those at higher risk are people who have very low CD4 counts and are not on medications and don’t have undetectable viral loads. People who fall into this group need to be more cautious than others.
There are no specific guidelines for protecting against COVID-19 for anyone who is living with HIV that are different from the precautions for anyone who is HIV-negative. Washing your hands is an important precaution, and using soap and water has been shown to be more effective than using hand sanitizer. If a sink is unavailable, hand sanitizer is a good alternative.
What I recommend is that everyone make sure they are up to date with their vaccines. Everyone should have the flu vaccine, and those who are HIV-positive should also have the pneumonia shot. While neither the flu vaccine nor the pneumonia vaccine protect against COVID-19, they can prevent someone from getting multiple illnesses."
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