Glossary

QD (or qd) – a short hand term for medication dosing that means ‘once-daily’.

See also q24H.

viral tropism see tropism.

seroreversion – the word for when the baby born to an HIV-positive mother, no longer has the mother’s antibodies to HIV.

long-term non-progressor (LTNP) – An HIV positive person whose CD4 count stays above 500 copies/mm³ with very low viral load for more than five years, without using ART.

Some LTNPs have kept their CD4 count above 500 for more than 10-15 years without ART. Recent guidelines suggest the LTNPs should still strongly consider using ART. This is because ongoing HIV replication is still likely to increase the risk of serious illnesses, even at low viral load levels,

Because CD4 counts gradually fall in LTNPs, just very slowly, a more accurate term is long-term slow-progressors (LTSPs).

Elite controllers (ECs) are a sub-group of LTSP who also maintain undetectable viral load (less than 50 copies/mL) without ART. See: elite controller.

elite controller (EC) – if your viral load stays undetectable for more than five years without ART you are an elite controller.

Elite controllers also have a very good CD4 count (always above 500 cells/mm³) that stays at a similar level over many years.

Even with this good immune response, ART is still generally recommended in the long-term.

This is because over decades – some ECs have been undetectable for more than 20 years – there is a concern that low level HIV in different body compartments like the brain, might lead to accumulative serious damage that isn’t easy to detect until it is too late.

This is a real concern, though evidence is limited because of the rarity of ECs.

See: long-term slow progressor (LTSP)/long-term non-progessor (LTNP).