What people living with HIV need to know about COVID-19

Nearly half of people in the U.S. diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are over 50, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HIV damages the body's immune system, and interferes with the body's ability to fight infection and disease. Does that make it more difficult to fight off COVID-19?

Dr. Stacey Rizza, an infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic, says, "We know that anybody who has a suppressed immune system may have an altered response to the virus that causes COVID-19. We know that older people whose immune systems are a little weaker, and people who have medical issues or organ diseases, are going to generally do worse with the infection. If somebody has HIV and their immune system is weaker, meaning they're not on therapy, or they're earlier on in their therapy and their CD4 count is still low, they may be at risk of having a worse reaction to the virus. We will learn more about SARS-CoV-2 on people living with HIV over time."

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