Question
My partner’s CD4 is 800, can he start treatment?
5 September 2014. Related: Access to treatment, All topics, CD4 and viral load, HIV transmission, Starting treatment.
Its so difficult sometimes to use a condom. Is it possible for my partner to start treatment with a CD4 count of 800 so that he can’t infect me. We wish to be on treatment so that the risk of infecting me can be extremely low. What can we do?
Answer
Hi,
Thank you for your enquiry. It is great that you and your partner want to make sure you are having safe sex.
In the UK people do start treatment with a high CD4 count to prevent transmission to their partner or partners. World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines include recommendations to do this. I do not know if the South African Guidelines do. You would have to check this
You could talk to your partner’s clinic about this. They may offer to start him on meds anyway. Particularly if you are clear about the fact that it is to prevent you becoming positive. You can also take the information about WHO guidelines with you to give to the doctor or clinic.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is a HIV advocacy charity that is based in South Africa, they may be able to help you with this. They may also be able to give you more specific information.
It is great that your partner has a CD4 count of 800 this is really strong. A CD4 count is used to see how someone’s immune system is doing. A viral load count is used to measure how much virus is in someone’s blood. This is more relevant than CD4 count when talking about risks of transmission. The lower it is the lower the risk of transmission is.
You can find contact details and an inquiry form for TAC online.
And these are the WHO guidelines, you can find the relevant section on page 85.