Dr. Julie E. Mangino, M.D.

Seems very UNlikely. I would wash your hands, wash your clothes that touched the car and go ahead and splurge on a drive thru car wash to remove all of the potential residue from the car. I suspect most of the secretions and excretions are UNDER your car.

I would present to your primary care doctor. I do not know if it's associated with shaving (an infected hair follicle) or some sort of skin abnormality that is not an infection but associated with an exposure of your skin to a new product, or a lesion that has been there a long time but now that it is bigger it is more noticeable. If your primary care doctor is unsure, a dermatologist may be needed. Your primary care doctor knows what medications you are on that may also potentially be contributing?

I do not htink you have anything to worry about from that remote encounter. I would however, assuage your fears and get retested. You can go to any HD and ask to be tested for HIV, Hep B and Hep C....and put these concerns to rest.

AGREE; you should get tested for COVID and flu and if not up to date on those two vaccines, get them next week when you feel better. Vaccination is the best way to protect against resp viruses. Also if you KNOW you had covid within the last 6-12 weeks, it's less likely to be covid and you can wait on the vaccine for a few more months.

I would not worry about this for one more second. Unless you had a lot of open skin cuts, I would not be at all concerned…..even if you did, the risk of any blood borne viruses getting transferred to you is imperceptibly small, ie like zero! Have a great holiday season!

Yes; if you remember when you test for viruses like influenza or Covid, the nasal swab is in the same area that you snorted the cocaine in to. We don't test for the common cold virus but that too is easily transmitted from that body site as well as the hands that transfer the bills.

hello: I feel your pain. I had influenza and fluid behind my ear in 2017 and had similar symptoms of diarrhea from azithro as well as severe 330AM dry heaves. I finished the darn 5 day course but vowed I would never take it again and would never take an antibiotic for "any ear issues" unless i had pain to go along with it. I was not symptomatic from my ear but obviously a lot of nose blowing with influenza, just like with your Covid infection. Sadly, you could get C diff from azithromycin and only 2 days of it; I would give it another 24-48 hrs unless: the diarrhea becomes worse, fever, nausea and unable to hold down food or liquids, vomiting and more than 3 loose stools in a day. And then you need a test....I doubt the diarrhea is from COVID (w/ azithro on board- it hangs out in the system for >60 hrs after the last dose,) so find Covid as cause a little less likely, although some pts get diarrhea with Covid. Are you on paxlovid for the COVID as that can give pts diarrhea too? BUT I would continue that. No antibiotics are Cdiff free, however, in my years of experience, I have not seen C difficile with doxycycline as an antibiotic to remember. Best!

I am not sure you have already been to a physician or not. Usually, for BP management the very first thing to try is diet. So, a few things to do: if you are overweight, lose weight. Cut out all cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, snack items and sugar laden sodas as every pound you lose will mean your body will have to move less weight through your activities of the day. I have seen a significant decline in blood pressure with a loss of even just 10#. If you drink alcohol daily, limit to 2-3 per week. If you eat processed meats (salami, bologna, ham, bacon), salty chips like doritos, potato chips/pretzels, cut them out as all of these items make your body retain water and fight in your control of blood pressure. Use some salt when you cook and none at the table. Avoid canned vegetables and stick with frozen or fresh which often have zero added salt. Eat eggs, unsweetened cereals, non fat milk, salads and watch the amount of dressing (oil and vinegar are good w/ herbs), and then for dinner a lean protein/meat, starch and vegetable. Eat fresh fruits for dessert as they are plentiful now in the spring and summer and provide excellent vitamins and minerals.

If I am following you correctly, you were positive for Chlamydia, he is negative and he was wearing a condom. The concern would be for YOU to potentially give it to HIM, while you were being treated, as I am unsure if the sexual encounter was on day 1 or day 7 of your treatment course. The rec is to abstain from sex for the 7 days you are on therapy.

It's always possible to contract an STD or HIV if the commercial sex worker (CSW) and you had open breaks in their skin, skin lesions or sores. For example, genital herpes simplex virus may get transmitted with genital to genital contact, even with a condom on your penis and it may come to an area around your groin. You would know it as it would be very painful. You can get tested for HIV, with a blood test, and chlamydia and gonorrhea with a urine test and if there were no issues with the condom, this may be less likely. You did not share if you had oral sex with him or her, the mucous membranes of the mouth can also potentially transmit infection. Syphilis is possible as well and you could develop a zit like lesion where the condom was not, if the CSW also had an open lesion. If you frequent CSWs, you may want to consider going on pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP. It would be daily truvada (FTC and tenofovir) or descovy (FTC and TAF) or some folks are taking injections such as cabotegravir/Apretude.

Yes, about half of people who test positive for anti-HCV positive (that is the hepatitis C antibody), do not have a current chronic infection. They may have experienced spontaneous clearance after acute infection. Only those with a current infection with a positive HCV RNA which measures the actual viral load, will need treatment. Factors that are predictive of clearance of HCV include having jaundice- (turning yellow), elevated ALT (a liver test), younger age, being female; being infected with HCV genotype 1; and other specifics that are related to genetics.

YES hands down!

It actually sounds pretty benign to me; however, the first 24 hours will tell you a LOT about what's going on. If it progresses run don't walk to the urgent care or ED.
You may have more of soft tissue trauma/black and blue, if the cat didn't really break the skin.

I personally think masking, especially with an N95 is the best way to protect yourself against ANY respiratory viruses! If it doesnt bother you continue to wear it especially if you are immunocompromised in any way.

I do think it is safe to travel; nonetheless, can wear a mask when on public transportation to protect you and your traveling partner from any resp virus infection. an N95 is best.

Yes most likely as Hep A total includes IgG and IgM; it tells you you are immune. Most likely due to the vaccine. It would also be positive if you recovered from the actual infection.
IgM will be positive ONLY if you are acutely ill with hepatitis A, so suspect yours will be negative.

Likliehood of hantavirus is greatly dependent on your geography. Different mice carry the virus in southern florida, western US etc. It is pretty rare;
transmission occurs when direct or indirect (airborne) contact is made with the saliva or waste products of rodents that carry the virus, most commonly the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). Initial symptoms may include fever, muscle aches (myalgias), headache, cough, and/or difficulty breathing. Symptoms progress rapidly, and abnormally low blood pressure (hypotension), shock, and/or respiratory failure may occur.
My best advice, (even to my own husband in OH) is to always wear a mask when you clean out the shed, the garage etc. There are other viruses that mice also carry that can lead to infections.

I am unable to explain why the magnet stuck to the injection site; however, I would start on the COVID 19 vaccine series ASAP. With an autoimmune disorder you are at a higher risk of a worse outcome if you do contract Covid. If you've already had COVID, it is still best to complete the vaccine series and get a booster.

I am aware of this difference and read with interest all of the original studies. It was amazing that both Pfizer and Moderna reported 95% initial efficacy and safety. I believe the Moderna used a higher dose as it was to be packaged in more of a lipid/fat carrier molecule. I do believe it's most important to get whichever vaccine is available and mixing of the mRNA vaccines is now being readily done.

Mucous membrane exposures have a much lower risk than blood to blood but far from zero. I would get tested as soon as possible for HIV and also gonorrhea and chlamydia which could also lead to eye involvement. Health department, urgent care and community centers or your own MD would be good places to go.