Dr. Mallika Mootoo, MD
Pediatrician / HIV Clinician
St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital
HIV and COVID-19
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the virus that causes HIV infection. The abbreviation “HIV” can refer to the virus or HIV infection. The virus targets an individual’s immune system and attacks and eventually destroys the CD4 cells that fight infections. As more and more CD4 cells are destroyed the immune system weakens, making it difficult for the body to fight against certain infections and cancers. Without treatment, HIV can gradually destroy the immune system and lead to AIDS.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the most advanced stage of HIV infection.
HIV is transmitted by exposure to HIV-infected bodily fluids. It is mainly spread by having unprotected sex with someone with HIV, sharing a needle with an HIV-infected person and from mother to child during pregnancy, labor and / or breastfeeding.
HIV infection is a lifelong disease that still has no cure. However, there is an effective anti-HIV medication that, if taken correctly, allows people with HIV to live long and healthy lives.
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the use of HIV medicines to treat HIV infection. People on ART take a combination of HIV medicines every day.
ART is recommended for everyone with HIV. ART prevents HIV from multiplying, which reduces the amount of HIV in the body (called the viral load). Having less HIV in the body protects the immune system and prevents HIV infection from progressing to AIDS. ART cannot cure HIV, but HIV medicines help people with HIV to live longer and healthier lives.
ART also reduces the risk of HIV transmission. The primary goal of ART is to reduce an individual’s viral load to an undetectable level. An undetectable viral load means that the level of HIV in the blood is too low to be detected by a viral load test. In fact, people with HIV who carry an undetectable viral load have no risk of transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partner through sex.
COVID-19
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. The World Health Organization (WHO) first learned of this new virus on 31 December 2019, following a report of a cluster of ‘viral pneumonia’ cases in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. In March 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
The virus that causes COVID-19 is transmitted mainly through droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or breathes out. These droplets are too heavy to hang in the air, and fall quickly on floors or surfaces.
