Good news for people living with HIV & their sexual partners
policy brief to coincide with this week’s International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science in Brisbane, Australia. The brief not only states there is zero risk of transmission if someone has an undetectable viral load.
It goes on to say that people with a suppressed but detectable viral load “have almost zero or negligible risk” of sexual transmission.The WHO policy brief states, “There are three key categories for HIV viral load measurements: unsuppressed (more than 1,000 copies/mL), suppressed (detected but less than 1,000 copies/mL) and undetectable (viral load not detected by the test used).”We know that those with an undetectable viral load cannot pass on the virus.
This week, The Lancet posted a systematic review about the risk of transmission in those with “low-level” viral loads. That’s a viral load under 1,000.The studies analyzed included 7,762 serodiscordant couples across 25 countries.
They identified two cases of HIV transmission when the HIV-positive partner had a viral load between 200-1,000. Most cases of transmission occurred when the HIV-positive person had a viral load above 10,000.In those two cases identified, 50 days or more had elapsed between the viral load test and the transmission.
