HIV can seriously affect your long-term health. However, there are many nuances to how this can happen.
A patient’s viral load is closely related to how HIV may affect them later in life.
Let’s get into it.
HIV can be easily treated with the right treatment and medications. Find out about your sexual health with a comprehensive HIV test.
Can you have more or less HIV?
If you get HIV, you will have it for life. But the extent to which HIV can spread to other people and affect your health depends on you Viral load.
In short, your viral load depends on how much HIV you have in your blood. Without treatment, the level of virus in your blood will increase over time, increasing the likelihood of passing on the infection and having negative health consequences.
However, this is not the case for most people. The vast majority of people living with HIV in the UK take antiretroviral therapy (ART), which significantly reduces their viral load.
HIV treatment has become so effective in recent years that HIV levels are no longer detectable in many ART patients.
What does “undetectable” mean?
An undetectable viral load means that the level of HIV in your blood is below a certain threshold that is undetectable with standard tests. This is usually defined as having fewer than 20 to 50 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood.
Having and maintaining an undetectable viral load helps protect your immune system from the damage that HIV causes. If you have an undetectable viral load, you cannot spread the infection to someone else. Most people can achieve an undetectable viral load after six months of treatment.
It is very important that people receiving ART continue to take their medications. Missed doses can lead to increased viral load.
What happens if my viral load is detectable but still low?
Not everyone will achieve an undetectable viral load. In a few cases, HIV-infected people who are still taking ART have a detectable viral load. This condition is called low-level viremia (LLV).
What constitutes LLV is still up for debate, and the established values vary from country to country. They can vary between 51 and 999 copies per milliliter of blood. It is important to note that viral load can sometimes temporarily increase on its own and this is not necessarily an indication of treatment failure.
LLV is unlikely to be caused by nonadherence to ART. It is more likely to be caused by other factors. LLV also does not increase the likelihood of sexual transmission. Studies have found that maintaining a viral load below 1,000 copies per milliliter of blood reduces the risk of transmission to almost zero.
What are the risks of a long-term LLV?
While LLV disease is certainly better than untreated HIV infection, it can still be associated with some undesirable health problems.
Virological failure
If you have HIV and have been receiving ART for more than six months and your viral load remains above 200 copies per milliliter, you have virologic failure. This condition can be a significant problem for people trying to manage their HIV infection because it can indicate the risk of disease progression.
However, LLV does not always lead to virological failure. Treatments developed after 2012 have been shown to be protective, as have therapies based on integrase inhibitors.
Non-AIDS-related diseases
In some studies, LLV is associated with a 31% increased risk of serious non-AIDS events compared with sustained viral suppression. Virologic failure increases the risk of a serious non-AIDS event by 75%.
Health conditions associated with LLV include:
- Chronic kidney disease
- heart disease
- Prostate cancer
- Anal cancer
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
- Cirrhosis of the liver
We don’t know why this happens. One theory is that sustained low-level viremia permanently activates the immune system, which can cause damage to the body over time. Further investigation is required in this area to find the true cause. However, more recent Studies have suggested that these connections may not be as strong as previously thought.
How do I find out my viral load?
The viral load can be detectable just a few weeks after the initial infection. You can have a viral load test to see how much HIV you have in your blood. If you are being treated for HIV, you should have regular viral load tests to monitor your condition.
Final thoughts
Before you can determine your viral load, you need to know your sexual health status. If you are concerned about a recent sexual encounter, you can get tested at a sexual health clinic near you. Click the button below to book your appointment today.
Don’t leave your sexual health to chance.
