Question
How long can someone live with HIV?
2 January 2018. Related: All topics, Life expectancy.
How long can a man live with HIV if he was around 18 years old and was healthy when he was infected, both with and without medication?
Answer
Modern HIV drugs mean that life expectancy is now similar for HIV positive people to the general population.
This is based on being diagnosed early and having access to treatment.
The wide range of factors related to life expectancy include: where you live, your income, access to health care, lifestyle (alcohol, drugs, tobacco, exercise and diet) and other infections like hepatitis, genetics and chance – good or bad luck.
Several large studies have been published showing that life expectancy for HIV positive people is very good, and near to an HIV negative person.
Without treatment, HIV will slowly progress in nearly everyone. This speed that HIV progresses varies from a few years to more than 20 years.
Note: this answer was updated in January 2018 from a question posted in August 2008..
Hi I was diagnosed about 9 years I am still not on meds cuz they told me I don’t
Need them as yet I have no symptom and still feel healthy
So how long do u think I can live when I do start meds
Hi Hari,
There is no reason why HIV should stop you from getting married. It is good that you want to protect your partner from being infected. Unfortunately there isn’t a vaccine that can do this. There are different ways of protecting your partner though. Using condoms everytime you have sex is the most effective way to protect your partner. Being on treatment, with an undetectable viral load, will also protect your partner from being infected. Are you on treatment yet?
This is all explained in our guide to HIV testing and risks of sexual transmission. Please look there, and let me know if you have any questions.
sir,
i am hiv positive unmarried now my cd4 count is 360
in case future marriage possible or not and also any vaccine for unprotected sex for women’s (vaccine working how many years) pl kindly reply
thanking you
Hi Wallace,
I am very sorry to hear about your girlfriend’s recent diagnosis. Has she started treatment yet.
Although in the past somebody with a CD4 count this low would be said to have ‘AIDS’ this term is rarely used anymore. This is because HIV treatment is now so effective that somebody with a CD4 count this low can still do well and recover on treatment. It is important that your girlfriend starts treatment soon-in the next week or two. This is because while her CD4 count is this low she is at risk of infections. And yes, there is a possibility of complications from infections like the flu while her CD4 count is this low so it is important that her doctor knows about any symptoms so that she can be treated for these infections.
There is a good chance that with treatment your girlfriend will do well. Please see our guide to starting treatment for more info.
My girlfriend recently tested positive for HIV, she is only 30.
And her CD4 count is 77. I am very worried.
Lower CD4 means AIDS?\
So now she has HIV or AIDS?
Will there be any complication if she has the flu or cough bug?
She has been feeling very tired recently.
Very stressed now
Thanks for your post which raises several issues. This is also something to talk to your doctor about as she or he can help talk through your concerns.
Treatment reduces the risk of transmission, but there is still a risk. Your viral load will be one of the biggest factors, not just whether or not you are on treatment.
This means that your partner needs to know you are HIV positive if she want to decide the risk for herself, and it is not clear from your post whether your partner know this.
However, lots of couple where one partner is positive and the other is negative use treatment to have children and the risk for transmission become very low. For more information see these questions.
If a man who is hiv positive is taking treatment and he makes a woman pregnant what will be the situation of the woman and child?
Hi Alize,
I’m sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. How are you coping with finding out that you have HIV?
People progress at different rates but it would be unusual to develop ‘AIDS’ (i.e. have a CD4 count under 200) in the year after being infected.
The best way to know how you are getting on is to have your CD4 count checked.This is a measure of your immune system and will help you to decide when to start treatment. Has your doctor told you what your CD4 count is?
Please see this link about CD4 count and risk of illness for more information.
hi,
I was infected around December or January and I have not gone under any medications yet. Is it possible to develop AIDS or die in less than a year? I read the symptoms of AIDS and I suffer from a few of them and I am freaking out! Like is it possible to have a severe strong case of HIV? I do drink when I am out partying and stuff, since I am just 21. So any help would be appreciated, thank you.
As i-Base have said many times, if you have symptoms you need to see a doctor. If you keep having sex without a condom and then wondering if you might catch HIV, then tell your doctor this to. Perhaps seeing a health counsellor might help you. I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t take an HIV test.