Question
Will treatment suppress my viral load?
23 February 2023. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Newly diagnosed.
Hello, my infection with HIV was confirmed today. I had unprotected sexual encounter before 100 days exactly and today my doctor prescribed me Biktarvy. I am concerned about the viral load, it is 450 000 copy/ml. I read high viral load is associated with a higher incidence of virologic failure and rebound. Is it possible to become undetectable with this high base viral load, and if so, how long it will take to be undetectable? I am 34 year old and my CD4 count is 388, thank you in advance.
Answer
Hi, how are you doing?
Yes. Regardless of how high your viral load is. It is still very likely that your viral load will soon be suppressed. This can happen as quickly as 1 month but in general can take up to 3 months.
A higher viral load is more common in earlier infection. As you know the date of exposure, HIV is still relatively new in your system. This is when it is most active and the viral load appears high. If you tested it in a few months without treatment it is likely that it would be less. This is the natural course of HIV.
Resistance to Biktarvy is rare. You have been started on a treatment with a low risk of resistance and is generally well tolerated by people. There is no reason to suggest why this treatment will not work for you.
Josh.
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