Question
My friend in a US prison has detectable viral load and is worried…
4 July 2016. Related: Access to treatment, All topics, CD4 and viral load, Support.
My friend is HIV+ since 2008. Her CD4 count is in the 800s and her viral load just became detectable. She is in prison so the information for her is very limited.
She has been sick since August and the prison is saying they have no options for her. She has had diarrhea and vomiting and alot of weight loss. She is very scared and wants to know if she need to be concerned about her HIV levels if her CD4 count just dropped since February.
The medical system in the prison is very bad for her. Her levels are changing and we need to know what we can do or what help she can seek in September when she is released from prison.
Answer
Hi
You ask several questions so I will answer each one separately.
Firstly, the drop in CD4 count may or may not be significant. This depends on how low it has dropped and your friends CD4 count was already high. Dropping form 800 to 600 or even lower, might not mean anything.
Similarly, with virsl load, if it was only just detectable, this might have been a blip that goes back down again without having to change treatment.
This guide has information about viral load blips and what to do if it turns out to be a geniune rebound.
https://i-base.info/guides/changing
I am more concerned about your friends actually health, which does not sound good. It sounds like there might be health problems that might not even be related to HIV,
i-Base is in the UK, so I have little information about access to treatment and care in US prisons. In the UK, this often depends on whether prison officers decide to provide support or not. Sometimes this is very good but sometimes very bad.
Many US HIV organisations provide support for people in prison who are living with HIV. This might be local or national and it is worth contacting them for help.
It is good that her release date is soon but she will still need medical care now. It is important to find the caue of the diarrhoea and weight loss.
It will be good to have help from community HIV organistions in September – and it is good to plan for this now. Getting your friend a referral to an HIV service organisation will be vital.
This list from thebody.com might help.
http://www.thebody.com/index/hotlines/other.html
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