Undetectable, Un-infectious and the Six Month Wait.

[pauldecle]

Just for absolute clarity...

We need to be undetectable for at LEAST SIX MONTHS before we are Un-infectious.

Why?

This is because the level of the HIV virus in our blood drops to undetectable faster than it does in other bodily fluids.

These other fluids include semen, pre-ejaculate fluid (pre-cum), vaginal fluid and rectal fluid (rectal fluid is the mucus that lines the rectum).

Because it takes longer to get the virus down to undetectable levels in these fluids we are not Un-infectious for the additional six months.

It is important that we all understand this point.

I hope this helps,

As Always,

Kind Regards,

Paul.

[yperoxos]

That was very informative. I didn't know.

[bad-monkey]

thanks.  I am always glad to get information like this.  I an new and always looking to learn more about this new health concern of mine,

[Jim1962]

Disagree, we are never un-infectious blood transfusions, sharing needles & unsafe sex. Undetectable means that you still have the virus and can still pass it on, sorry but after living with it for 30 + years I learned lots about this. 

[pauldecle Partner ForumLink in reply to Jim1962]

Dear Jim,

Thank you for your posting.

Clinical trials show that Treatment As Prevention (TAsP) is safer than condom use. However it will not offer any protection from any other sexually transmitted or blood bourn viruses. As you point out nothing is 100% safe and one has to consider what happened if you are not fully adherent to your medication.

There is further clarification on the topic on the i-Base web site at i-base.info/guides/starting...

My main reason for posting was that some people seemed to be under the impression that as soon as one became undetectable that was it, and are not aware of the difference in time for blood and other bodily fluids reaching undetectable levels.

As you point out even at undetectable we still carry the virus and it is not a cure, if we stop medication the virus will rebound and very soon reach the same level as when we started treatment and then continue to clime.

I welcome discussion, disagreement and clarification.

With Kind Regards,

Paul

[zkahagu]

Thanks for the information