Congratulations to our Medical Director, Dr. Anthony Jones, who has been selected to receive the East Bay World AIDS Day Award for Empathy and Kindness!
Frequently
Asked Questions
This page will answer all the general, basic questions you have about:
COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
Here at Primary Care at Home, inc., our entire staff is vaccinated and ready to provide you with the care that you need.
COVID-19 is a disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2. Most people with COVID-19 have mild symptoms, but some people can become severely ill. Older people and those with underlying health conditions (including HIV) are more prone to severe illness.
That being said, there are a number of ways to protect yourself to keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy.
Get vaccinated ● Wear a mask and/or face shield ● Maintain social distancing ●
Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces ● Cover coughs and sneezes ●
Wash your hands regularly ● Monitor your health daily (to check for symptoms)
People living with HIV (PLWH), should continue to maintain a healthy lifestyle (e.g. eat a healthy diet, sleep at least 8 hours a night, reduce stress as much as possible, and take your medicine as prescribed).
Common symptoms
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Fever or chills
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Cough
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Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
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Fatigue
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Muscle or body aches
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Headache
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New loss of taste or smell
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Sore throat
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Congestion or runny nose
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Nausea or vomiting
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Diarrhea
Seek emergency medical attention if you or someone else display the following symptoms: trouble breathing; persistent pain or pressure in the chest; new confusion; inability to wake or stay awake; or pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds, depending on skin tone.
What to do if you are sick or displaying symptoms:
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Stay home except to get medical care.
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Stay home. Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home without medical care. Do not leave your home, except to get medical care. Do not visit public areas.
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Take care of yourself. Get rest and stay hydrated. Take over-the-counter medicines, such as acetaminophen, to help you feel better.
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Stay in touch with your doctor. Call before you get medical care. Be sure to get care if you have trouble breathing, or have any other emergency warning signs.
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Avoid public transportation, ride-sharing, or taxis.
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Separate yourself from other people.
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As much as possible, stay in a specific room and away from other people and pets in your home. If possible, you should use a separate bathroom. If you need to be around other people or animals in or outside of the home, wear a mask.
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Tell your close contacts that they may have been exposed to COVID-19. An infected person can spread COVID-19 starting 48 hours (or 2 days) before the person has any symptoms or tests positive. By letting your close contacts know they may have been exposed to COVID-19, you are helping to protect everyone.
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Get Tested.
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If you have symptoms of COVID-19, get tested. While waiting for test results, stay away from others, including staying apart from those living in your household.
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Clean "high-touch" surfaces and avoid sharing personal household items.
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Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue, and throw it away immediately after use.
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Wash your hands often and avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
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Do not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, or bedding with other people in your home. Wash these items thoroughly after each use.
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Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces in your “sick room” and bathroom; wear disposable gloves. Let someone else clean and disinfect surfaces in common areas, but you should clean your bedroom and bathroom, if possible.
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If a caregiver or other person needs to clean and disinfect a sick person’s bedroom or bathroom, they should do so on an as-needed basis. The caregiver/other person should wear a mask and disposable gloves prior to cleaning. They should wait as long as possible after the person who is sick has used the bathroom before coming in to clean and use the bathroom.
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High-touch surfaces include phones, remote controls, counters, tabletops, doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, toilets, keyboards, tablets, and bedside tables.
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Quarantine v. Isolation
You quarantine when you might have been exposed to the virus. Here's what to do if you've been in close contact with someone who has the virus:
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Stay home for 14 days after your last contact with a person who has COVID-19.
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Watch for fever (100.4◦F), cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19.
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If possible, stay away from people you live with, especially people who are at higher risk for getting very sick from COVID-19.
You isolate when you have been infected with the virus, even if you don’t have symptoms. Here's what to do under isolation:
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Monitor your symptoms. If you have an emergency warning sign (including trouble breathing), seek emergency medical care immediately.
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Stay in a separate room from other household members, if possible.
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Use a separate bathroom, if possible.
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Avoid contact with other members of the household and pets.
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Don’t share personal household items, like cups, towels, and utensils.
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Wear a mask when around other people if able.
Vaccines
What different vaccines are available?
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Pfizer-BioNTech (2 shots given 3 weeks apart)
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Moderna (2 shots given 4 weeks apart)
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Johnson & Johnson's Janssen (1 shot)
For more specific information, please turn to the CDC's fact sheet on COVID-19 vaccines.
Are they safe?
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and most importantly, they reduce your risk of severe illness (and death). Millions of people in the United States have received COVID-19 vaccines under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history. We, as healthcare providers urge you to get the vaccine as soon as possible.
There is no evidence that suggests that COVID-19 vaccines interfere with HIV medicine (aniretroviral therapy or ART) or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
What are possible side effects?
COVID-19 vaccination will help protect you from getting COVID-19. You may have some side effects, which are normal signs that your body is building protection. These side effects may affect your ability to do daily activities, but they should go away in a few days. Some people have no side effects.
Some common side effects you may experience include:
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Pain, redness, or swelling on the arm where you got shot
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Tiredness
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Headache
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Muscle pain
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Chills
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Fever
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Nausea
Exercising the arm where you got shot (e.g. "windmill" exercises) can relieve or prevent soreness. To reduce discomfort from fever, drink plenty of fluids and dress lightly.
Call your doctor if the redness or tenderness where you got the shot worsens after 24 hours and/or if your side effects are worrying you or do not seem to be going away after a few days.
Booster Shots
In the state of California, booster shots are available for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine recipients who:
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Received their second dose at least six months ago, and
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Are age 18 or older
Recipients Johnson & Johnson's Janssen are eligible if they:
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Received their first dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago, and
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Are 18 or older
If you have advanced or untreated HIV, CDC recommends that you receive an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at least 28 days after your second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Talk to your health care provider to determine if getting an additional dose is right for you. If you received Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen (J&J/Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine, you do not need an additional dose at this time.
Monoclonal Treatment
With the FDA's approval, Primary Care at Home, inc. is authorized to use monoclonal antibodies to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults with positive test results who are at high risk for progressing to sever COVID-19. When administered, monoclonal treatment is shown to reduce COVID-19-related hospitalization or emergency room visits.
Monoclonal antibody treatment (specifically, casirivimab and imdevimab) must be administered together by intravenous (IV) infusion.
HIV
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a viral pathogen that directly targets the immune system, making the body unable to combat disease and infection effectively.
Without the proper treatment or care, HIV may eventually develop into AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). There are currently no cures for HIV, but there are effective prevention and treatment strategies that can control the virus and allow patients to lead healthy, regular lives.
[Please note that the information below is adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – please visit the CDC website for more information on HIV.]
HIV Transmission
Common Ways of Transmission
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Sharing needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment (e.g. cookers).
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Vaginal or anal sex – any activities that involve the exchange of bodily fluids place sexual partners at risk of infection.
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If you engage in anal sex as the receptive partner (bottom), you have a higher risk of getting HIV because the rectum's lining is thin and may allow HIV to enter the body more easily.
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Other ways that HIV may be transmitted is through oral sex, blood transfusions, and also through mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding.
HIV is NOT Transmissible by:
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Shaking hands, hugging, sharing toilets, sharing dishes, or closed-mouth or "social" kissing with someone who has HIV.
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Saliva, tears, or sweat not mixed with blood from an HIV+ patient:
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HIV- people may kiss or share the same glass with an HIV+ patient without risk
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Mosquitoes, ticks, or other blood-sucking insects.
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Through other sexual activities that don’t involve the exchange of body fluids (for example, touching).
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Through the air.
For more detailed information on HIV transmission please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/hiv-transmission/ways-people-get-hiv.html
HIV Testing
You should get tested if you:
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have had sex with a partner who has HIV
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have had more than one partner since your last HIV test
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injected drugs and shared needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment
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have been diagnosed with or treated for another sexually transmitted disease
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have been diagnosed with or treated for hepatitis or tuberculosis (TB)
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are pregnant (to reduce the risk of transmission to the baby)
Different tests are available:
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NAT tests for the presence of HIV in the blood and measures the amount of virus present. This test is relatively expensive and usually only used for high-risk exposure with early symptoms.
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Antigen/Antibody test tests for the presence of antibodies present in the blood of an infected patient.
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Rapid Antibody tests.
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Oral Fluid Antibody Self-test is an at home test that you can do yourself by collecting oral fluid sample and using a bought kit. Results are typically available within 20 minutes with solutions.
*If you are doing a test at a hospital or physician’s office, expect your health care provider to take a blood or oral fluid sample.
Results and what do they mean?
Negative results don’t always mean that you are not infected with HIV due to a window period of exposure. This window period is the time between the exposure and when a test can confirm whether or not you are HIV positive or HIV negative. These periods may vary depending on the detection test that you choose so be sure to consult your physician when discussing about getting you tested. If your test results are negative and you have not had exposure for 3 months or more, then you are highly likely to not be infected with HIV.
Positive results may need some follow-up testing to confirm that you really are HIV+. If you are diagnosed with HIV, it is essential to begin medical care and HIV treatment as soon as possible to prevent any complications.
Being HIV positive does NOT mean that you have AIDS. However, HIV can lead to AIDS if an HIV positive patient does not receive treatment or take care of their health.
After a positive test, there are a number of medicines and treatment plans that will allow you to live a full and healthy life.
Here at Primary Care at Home, we will help you understand your new diagnosis, your care and treatment plan, methods on informing and/or protecting others, family planning, and dealing with the stigma that comes with the virus.
For more information on living with HIV, please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/livingwithhiv/index.html
PrEP
What is PrEP?
PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is the use of antiretroviral (ARV) medication by non-infected individuals at high-risk of contracting the HIV virus to reduce their chances of acquiring HIV infection.
Clinically, PrEP is usually given as a combination of Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + emtricitabine (also known as TDF/FTC or by the medication’s brand name, Truvada). This medication is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy.
PrEP is particularly beneficial among young MSM and transgender women and men whose partners have an HIV infection that is not virally suppressed or whose viral suppression is unknown.
PrEP Benefits
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PrEP reduces the risk of HIV acquisition and infection when used as prescribed:
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Greater than 90% effective in reducing risk though sexual activity when blood levels show greater than 90% adherence.¹
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Greater than 70% effective in reducing risk through injection drug use when patients were observed taking their medication.¹
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Treatment is easy: Regimen is one tablet, once per day.
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There are minimal side effects, most of which resolve fairly quickly and/or can be managed¹
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Appears to be safe for use during attempts to conceive and during pregnancy.
PrEP Risks¹
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Not safe for individuals with impaired kidney function.
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Requires 7 to 20 days of daily use to build protective blood levels.
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Continued use after HIV infection is acquired may result in development of drug-resistant virus.
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Requires careful monitoring in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV).
¹ According to the Clinical Guidelines Program.
PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis)
Family PACT
Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment
Family PACT is an acronym for California’s Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment program. Through comprehensive family planning services, low-income Californians of childbearing age are educated and empowered to make informed decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health (i.e. birth control options and STI testing).
More information can be found at the program’s website:
Monkeypox
Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. The monkeypox virus is part of the same family of viruses as the variola virus, the virus that causes smallpox. Monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox symptoms but milder, and monkeypox is rarely fatal. Monkeypox is not related to chickenpox.
Monkeypox symptoms
People with monkeypox get a rash that may be located on or near the genitals (penis, testicles, labia, and vagina) or anus (butthole) and could be on other areas like the hands, feet, chest, face, or mouth.
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The rash will go through several stages, including scabs, before healing.
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The rash can initially look like pimples or blisters and may be painful or itchy.
Other symptoms of monkeypox can include:
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Fever
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Chills
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Swollen lymph nodes
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Exhaustion
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Muscle aches and backache
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Headache
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Respiratory symptoms (e.g. sore throat, nasal congestion, or cough)
You may experience all or only a few symptoms
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Sometimes, people have flu-like symptoms before the rash.
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Some people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms.
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Others only experience a rash.
How long do monkeypox symptoms last?
Monkeypox symptoms usually start within 3 weeks of exposure to the virus. If someone has flu-like symptoms, they will usually develop a rash 1-4 days later.
Monkeypox can be spread from the time symptoms start until the rash has healed, all scabs have fallen off, and a fresh layer of skin has formed. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks.
Monkeypox spreads in a few ways.
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Monkeypox can spread to anyone through close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact, including:
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Direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs, or body fluids from a person with monkeypox.
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Touching objects, fabrics (clothing, bedding, or towels), and surfaces that have been used by someone with monkeypox.
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Contact with respiratory secretions.
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This direct contact can happen during intimate contact, including:
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Oral, anal, and vaginal sex or touching the genitals (penis, testicles, labia, and vagina) or anus (butthole) of a person with monkeypox.
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Hugging, massage, and kissing.
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Prolonged face-to-face contact.
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Touching fabrics and objects during sex that were used by a person with monkeypox and that have not been disinfected, such as bedding, towels, fetish gear, and sex toys.
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A pregnant person can spread the virus to their fetus through the placenta.
It’s also possible for people to get monkeypox from infected animals, either by being scratched or bitten by the animal or by preparing or eating meat or using products from an infected animal.
A person with monkeypox can spread it to others from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks.