Question
Is a viral load of 40 OK?
1 February 2018. Related: All topics.
I’m pregnant, and on medication. My viral load is 40, what can I do to make it lower?
Answer
Thanks for getting in touch.
A viral load of 40 is excellent. This means that you’re undetectable, and that you can’t transmit HIV through sexual intercourse. It also means that there will be less risk to your baby.
You’re already doing the best thing possible by being on ARVs and adhering to them.
Hi Michael, no this is nothing to worry about. It is amazing you have been less than 20 for so long. These are very minimal changes, anything under 200 is considered undetectable. You are very far below this. These would not be considered significant changes.
Hi I’ve been less than 20 for a few years but in the past years I’ve had two test one was 25 next one 29 then this past one less than 20 should I be worried
Hi Rene, there is no chance you will be infected. Any viral load below 200 is considered undetectable. This also means that your partner will also be untransmissable and cannot transmit HIV. A viral load of 30 is very safe for you to have sex and not become HIV positive.
My partner have vL 30 in yesterday his condom broke would I be infected
Hi Rafael, no you are not able to infect your partner. There is only a risk when your VL is above 200. Different tests have different cut offs for when they detect VL, or you may have had a temporary blip that raised you VL ever so slightly. You are still undetectable. U=U.
Hi I’ve been undetectable for a few years now, I recently took a blood test and my vL is 22 can I infect my partner?
Hi Khan, thanks, there is no risk to your wife of HIV. This is because your viral load has been less than 200 for so long. PrEP will not reduce this risk any further. PrEP is sometimes used by HIV negative women though if they are anxious about you being positive. It doesn’t reduce the risk but it mean that the woman is in contorl of the risk being zero.
My viral load is 37 copies/mL for the past 2 years but i want baby and my wife is HIV negative.
Will she use prep for pregnancy
Hi Nosh, technically, these results are both the same. Both results are less than 50 copies/mL which is the standard test cut-off. Both are also less than 200 copies/mL which is the cut-off used for transmission risk. At long as viral load in less than 200 copies/mL there is zero risk to your partner, even without a condom.
6 months ago VL=20copies 6 months later VL=37 copies can i transmit hv to my negetive partner if we don’t use a condom?