Q and A

Question

Can your CD4 count show how long you have had HIV?

Does your CD4 count tell you how long you have had HIV? I think I must have had it for a least 8 years. Today I had my first CD4 count results – 578 and my viral load is 3930. I have always been very healthy and looked after my diet could this be the reason why I am still well.

Answer

Thank you for your question.

Your CD4 count is still strong and your low viral load is also good.

Unfortunately, neither of these tests can show when you were infected. This is because there are such big differences between different people. Together with your hisotry of risk or exposure, the results can sometimes be interpreted to estimate how long your have been positive. This is always just a guess though.

If you don’t start treatment straight away, future CD4 and viral load test results will give an idea of how fast or slowly HIV is progressing. On average a person loses fifty CD4 cells a year, but there is still a lot of variability between people, so you are unlikely to ever know for certain.

Most people never find out when they were infected though.

It is good that you have a good diet but this is not directly linked to either CD4 or viral load.

Note: This answer was updated in October 2016 from an original quest posted in March 2008.

18 comments

  1. Josh Peasegood

    hi Jacques, yes this is possible. Most clinics will be able to test for both CD4 count and viral load. Have you asked if you can have both testes done at the same time?

  2. Jacques

    It’s it possible to get viral load results and not cd4 count results from the clinic?

  3. Josh Peasegood

    Hi Kei, there is no test to determine who became HIV positive first. When did you last test yourself?

    Are you and your wife now on treatment?

    Your wife being on medication means her viral load would be suppressed. This can reduce her risk of transmission to zero if her viral load was above 200, even being higher than this treatment will still make the risk of transmission very low.

    Prior to you wife had you had unprotected with anybody else?

  4. Kei

    Hi I wanna know between me and my wife who was affected B4 because she is the one found out about her status and she kept this secret to herself and she was on madication B4 I even know she was positive until I found out myself does that mean she is the one who brought this disease to our house

  5. Josh Peasegood

    Hi Sheila, you have an excellent viral load. A viral load of 29 is still considered undetectable. It is likely that you still know your viral load is because the lab is using very sensitive tests e.g., can read a viral load of up to 20. In other labs some tests may not be able to read below 100. In this case the second lab would consider you undetectable whereas the first would say 29.

    A viral load below 200 is considered undetectable. Below this it is often impossible to suppress a viral load much lower than yours. Your treatment is working really well as seen my your CD4 count.

  6. Sheila

    Hi doc,
    I found out I was HIV positive in 2021 after I got really sick. I’ve been on meds since then and my CD4 count is 1200 and viral load 29 copies. However, this viral load doesn’t seem to go lower than this since I tested 1 year ago. Is there a reason why? The viral load was 29copies last year and the same this year

  7. Simon Collins

    Hi Christy, lots of people have sex with other people even if the relationship is supposed to be monogamous – both men and women with with men and women. The reasons are complicated. There are no tests that can help you know which person was involved – or whether this was another partner that you don’t know about.

  8. Christy

    Hi my husband tested positive for hiv about 2 months ago I tested negative twice. He cheated on me 2 years ago with a woman then again with a man is it more likely he got it from the man or are both pretty much the same I mean I’m not 100% sure how it works I’m lost I don’t understand it all and he’s not easy to talk to about it. I’m a little embarrasse to be honest I mean the fact he cheated on me with a man.

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