What Does It Mean When The HIV Viral Load is Undetectable?
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What Does It Mean When The HIV Viral Load is Undetectable?
The medications used to treat HIV infection are called antiretroviral drugs, or ART for short. ART is normally taken as a combination of three or more drugs. These drugs are used to lower the HIV levels in the blood, sometimes to undetectable levels. It must be noted, though, that no medicine can completely remove the HIV virus from the blood. When the viral load is undetectable, it just means that no traces of the HIV virus can be found in the sample being tested.
It must be remembered that these tests are not perfect and that only a small sample of blood is used in these tests. Also, the tests can only detect the virus in the blood plasma while the virus can still be active in other parts of the body such as the blood cells themselves, as well as in genital fluids.
People infected with HIV often wonder what it means when the viral load is undetectable and whether it means that the chances of transmitting the virus to a partner has lessened.
Unfortunately, the risk is still there and someone infected with HIV should still take precautions to prevent the transmission of the virus to a partner.
There are various reasons why there is still a risk of transmitting the virus even though the viral load is undetectable.
Firstly, as mentioned previously, even though the viral load might be undetectable in the blood plasma, it might still exists in other parts of the body, especially in the genital fluids.
Secondly, the viral load might be subjected to something called 'blips', which is what happens when the viral load increases temporarily in small amounts, sometimes lasting for days or even weeks. This can happen between viral testings and there might not be any signs to indicate that the viral load has increased. The person infected with HIV might therefore not be aware of the fact that the viral load is higher and that the subsequent risk of infection is also therefore higher.
Finally, it is important that the antiretroviral medicine be taken regularly and in the right dosage. Not taking all the medicine, or not taking it regularly, could give the virus the chance to reproduce and could even make the virus resistant to the particular medication. This could lead to an increase in viral load which would not be detected if the patient is between viral testing periods.
The use of ART that is effective in suppressing the viral load to practically undetectable levels is good news since it does indicate that it might slow the spread of HIV, however, it cannot be counted upon that it will completely stop the transmission of the virus completely due to the factors mentioned above.
If you are HIV positive and you are taking ART, always make sure that you take the medicine as prescribed, and on the correct schedule to lessen the chance of the virus becoming resistant, and always use an alternative method of prevention such as using a prophylactic or being abstinent.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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