HEALTH
Doctors Explain Coronavirus’ Impact on Poz Folks
Medical professionals scramble to respond amid uncertainty of a growing health crisis
BY MATT TRACY
As cases of coronavirus
infection have proliferated
across the United
States — and made
particular inroads in Greater New
York — health offi cials have emphasized
generally that seniors
and those with chronic health conditions
are most at risk.
But what specifi cally are the
implications for people living with
HIV?
That question is more complex
than simply assessing whether HIV
alone is a risk factor compounding
a coronavirus infection. There
is, however, one key factor related
to HIV, according to Dr. Steve Pergam,
who works in the Vaccine and
Infectious Disease Division at the
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center in Seattle.
“It’s all based on level of immune
suppression,” Pergam said in a
written statement provided to Gay
City News by Gay Men’s Health
Crisis (GMHC). “For an HIV patient
who is on stable antiretroviral
therapy and has a normal CD4
count, their risk may be slightly
increased. People often lump HIV
patients with other immunosuppressed
patients, but HIV is a different
disease than it was years
ago. For people who have a reconstituted
immune system because
of treatment, I think the risk is not
going to be tremendously different”
than for those who are HIV-negative.
Some doctors are acknowledging
the limits of their knowledge in
the face of the sudden emergence
of the coronavirus, which has left
them with little time or data to
study its impact on different populations.
Dr. Sima Toussi, a pediatric
infectious disease specialist
who serves as the medical director
at Amida Care, told Gay City News
in a phone interview March 9 that
the virus’ impact on individuals
living with HIV is not defi nitive,
though she echoed some of the
same points conveyed by Pergam.
“People who are not virally suppressed
might be higher risk for
Dr. Steve Pergam said the risk of coronavirus for individuals living with HIV is “all based on level of
immune suppression.”
Kelsey Louie, GMHC’s CEO.
getting sick,” she said.
And although older folks are
more vulnerable to getting sick,
that risk depends on just how old
they are. The fatality rate for individuals
between the ages of 70
and 79 is eight percent, according
to Toussi, but that number shoots
up to 14 percent for individuals between
ages 80 and 89.
According to the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention,
nearly half — 47 percent —
of Americans living with HIV were
above the age of 50 by 2015, and
16 percent of those folks were 65
years of age or older.
“The prevailing guidance indicates
that older people, those with
SEATTLE CANCER CARE ALLIANCE
GMHC
other health conditions, and people
with compromised immune systems
have a higher probability of
severe illness,” GMHC CEO Kelsey
Louie said in a written statement.
“This includes people living with
HIV, particularly those with low
CD4 counts.”
Louie noted that GMHC’s staff
members are available to connect
clients and others to medical care
if necessary.
As of March 11, offi cials tallied
216 coronavirus cases in the
State of New York, according to
Governor Andrew Cuomo, who announced
that 121 cases emerged
in Westchester County, 52 in New
York City, 28 in Nassau County,
six each in Rockland and Suffok-
Counties, two in Saratoga County,
and one in Ulster County. The New
York City Department of Health,
which has been scrambling to
keep city residents informed on
the latest developments surrounding
the coronavirus, did not return
requests seeking comment.
As the coronavirus spreads
across the nation, the Trump administration
is dangerously mismanaging
and downplaying the
crisis while bungling efforts to
roll out testing. Even worse, Vice
President Mike Pence — who mishandled
an HIV surge in rural Indiana
during his time as governor
— has been tapped to oversee the
government’s response to the coronavirus.
The administration’s reckless
response was on full display as
recently as March 9 when Trump
tweeted, “The Fake News Media
and their partner, the Democrat
party, is doing everything within
its semi-considerable power (it
used to be greater!) to infl ame the
CoronaVirus situation, far beyond
what the facts would warrant.”
He also blamed the recent volatility
of the stock market on “FAKE
NEWS!” and pointed out that tens
of thousands of Americans die each
year from the fl u. Even as universities
and businesses are rapidly
transitioning to remote operations
to avoid large gatherings, Trump
tweeted, “Nothing is shut down,
life & the economy go on.”
At the state level, Cuomo has
been the subject of some criticism,
as well. In response to his
announcement that inmates, who
typically make less than $1 per
hour at the prison-based company
Corcraft, have been tasked with
making hand sanitizer for New
Yorkers in response to shortages of
the product, the Legal Aid Society
termed the practice “nothing less
than slave labor.”
VOCAL-NY was among other
groups that also blasted the governor.
“We are disgusted at Governor
➤ CORONAVIRUS & HIV, continued on p.5
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