Question
My viral load is detectable, but my HIV test is negative.
8 October 2019. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load.
Hi, I’m concerned about my status, i have tested HIV positive I was on treatment for 4years and now I tested negative twice and they took blood it become negative after 3 months. I took blood again my viral load was 150 copies/ml. My question is does that mean I am positive or negative?
Answer
Thanks for your question.
If you were negative, you wouldn’t have a viral load. This is because a viral load test measures the amount of HIV that you have in a ml of blood, please see here: https://i-base.info/ttfa/section-2/8-what-is-a-viral-load-test/ Only positive people have this.
Is there any reason why you had a HIV test, this isn’t common when someone is aware of their status and they are on treatment. Also, are you still on medication?
Thanks Zuzu.
im very happy to hear that, really appreciate it team
Hi Zuzu,
That’s great news. The aim of HIV treatment (ART) is to reduce HIV to such tiny levels that your viral load result says HIV can’t be detected. So it looks like your ART is working well.
Please see this page from ART in Pictures. It explains how HIV becomes undetectable after starting ART.
Good Afternoon
i got my viral load result today, they say lower than detectable what does that mean?