Rutgers Expert Available to Speak About COVID-19 and Heightened Risk for Those Living with HIV

Preliminary data has shown that people living with HIV may be at heightened risk for severe complications from COVID-19 because they are simultaneously experiencing two epidemics that are synergistically interacting to create increased odds of death and disability. However, HIV antivirals may offer some protection against COVID-19, providing additional evidence about the importance if testing and treating HIV.

Rutgers School of Public Health dean, Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, MS, MPH, is available to discuss how people living with HIV may be impacted by COVID-19.

“The fatality due to COVID-19 in those living with HIV is predicted on the interaction between health conditions, potential interference with care and treatments, and because these individuals are more likely to experience socially-produced burdens in the form of violence, stigma, discrimination, hate, isolation, and stigma,” said Halkitis, who is also a public health psychologist and director of the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies at Rutgers.

To interview Halkitis, contact Michelle Edelstein at [email protected].

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ABOUT THE RUTGERS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

The Rutgers School of Public Health is New Jersey’s leading academic institution in public health that is committed to advancing health and wellbeing and preventing disease throughout New Jersey, the United States, and the world, by preparing students as public health leaders, scholars, and practitioners; conducting public health research and scholarship; engaging collaboratively with communities and populations; and actively advocating for policies, programs, and services through the lens of equity and social justice. Learn how the Rutgers School of Public Health is “keeping the ‘public’ in public health,” by visiting them at https://sph.rutgers.edu.  

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