What does viral load mean in HIV?
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An HIV viral load is a blood test that measures the amount of HIV in your blood. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. HIV is a virus that attacks and destroys cells in the immune system. These cells protect your body against viruses, bacteria, and other disease-causing germs.
What the Results Mean. A high viral load is generally considered about 100,000 copies, but you could have 1 million or more. The virus is at work making copies of itself, and the disease may progress quickly. A lower HIV viral load is below 10,000 copies.
What is a bad viral load for HIV?
The results of a viral load test are described as the number of copies of HIV RNA in a millilitre of blood. But your doctor will normally just talk about your viral load as a number. For example, a viral load of 10,000 would be considered low; 100,000 would be considered high.
What does viral load indicate?
Viral load refers to the amount of virus that can be detected in an infected person. High viral loads are concerning because they can mean the person is more infectious.
Having an undetectable viral load does mean that there is not enough HIV in your body fluids to pass HIV on during sex. In other words, you are not infectious. For as long as your viral load stays undetectable, your chance of passing on HIV to a sexual partner is zero.
Can someone on ARVs infect others?
People living with HIV who take antiretroviral medications daily as prescribed and who achieve and then maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting the virus to an HIV-negative partner.
What is the difference between CD4 count and viral load?
A CD4 count tells you how many CD4 cells there are in a drop of blood. The more there are, the better. Viral load measures how much HIV there is in a drop of blood.