Question
What is a good viral load count?
26 January 2022. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load.
What is a good viral load count?
Answer
Hi, how are you?
The answer depends on whether or not someone is taking HIV treatment.
HIV treatment (called ART) is recommended for nearly everyone who is living with HIV.
When on ART, viral load should become undetectable. This is defined as having viral load lower than 200 copies/mL.
A viral load under 200 means your treatment is working very well. It also means you cannot transmit HIV sexually (even without a condom).
This is a link to a guide for further information about viral load.
Hello M and thanks for getting in touch.
How are you?
It’s not uncommon for people to be diagnosed with high viral load and low CD4 count.
It just means you have to make sure you take your antiretrovirals every day
Your body will slowly recover but it will take some time.
Please do not worry.
Here is some more information:
https://i-base.info/qa/4643
My viral load was 756000 and CD4 was 17 when my diagnosis was given to me. I started ART 1 week later. I’m very worried my CD4 and viral load were too bad for ART to help.
Hi Juma, your wife will not be at any risk of HIV so long as your viral load stays below 200. So being undetectable is really good and there is not risk of HIV transmission.
https://i-base.info/u-equals-u/
So you can conceive a baby in the normal way and both your wife and the baby will not becoome positive.
Hi,
My viral load is 20 copies/ml and never missed my ART, am worried about having sex with my wife without condom? But If she gets pregnant, will the baby and mother be positive?
Though my own, I added vitamin supplements as a daily routine.
Vitamin C 1000mg
Vitamin D3 4000IU
Zinc 15mg
Omega 3
Selenium 200ug
Hi Juma. Many viral load tests are now sensitive down to 20 copies/mL. Being undetectable on this test means your viral load is less than 20.
The cut-off for U=U just involve being less than 200 copies/mL. This means if if your viral load ever blips about 20 but stays less than 200, U=U is still okay, even though the blip result is not undetectable.
Having a viral load 20 copies/ml, termed U=U?
Will there ever going to be a final cure to the virus
Hi Lutfur, thanks. Are you sure this is a viral load result because the results are usually only whole numbers – i.e. 66 but without the .9?
My viral load of hiv is 66.9
Hi Aish, as long as viral load is less than 200 copies/mL your meds also protect your partner. Even a little higher than this, for example lesss than 500, there is still little risk. The guidelines always use 200 as the cut-off though becasue this is what was used in the PARTNER studies.
hi.
My viral load is 127 copies is this undetectable and untransmittable or not?