Question
I was recently diagnosed with HIV and started ART – are my results good?
7 October 2026. Related: Adherence, All topics, CD4 and viral load, Newly diagnosed, Starting treatment.
Hi
I was diagnosed with HIV in August and my doctor immediately prescribed Genvoya the same day after an initial resistance and general blood test.I am 28 years old and live in Turkey.
My viral load was 267,000 and cd4 170 and I was likely positive for a few years without knowing. My latest lab result after 4 weeks of medication was VL of 57 and cd4 of 315.
Is this normal or below average?
I wasn’t prescribed prophylaxis since the doctor assured me I would bounce back quickly, but should I request it in my next appointment next week?
Answer
Hi there
Thanks for your email and for letting us post an answer online.
These details really help in giving you an individualised answer.
Your results are very good, and they are perhaps a bit better than average. They also show how effective modern treatment can be.
So long as you continue to take meds carefully, your next viral load test will be undetectable. Your CD4 count is now very good and the meds should keep it above 300 from now on – meaning you should not have HIV-related health problems, or only a very low risk of these.
You are getting very good care and advice from your doctor.
This includes you not having needed to use prophylaxis meds.
I hope everything else is going okay and you have support for coming to terms with HIV.
At some time, your doctor might talk about the option to change treatment to a similar once-daily combination.
Some guidelines recommend using a combination based on either dolutegravir or bictegravir. This might be different in Turkey though.
If Genvoya is the main combination used in Turkey, this will still be very good.
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