Hope this is not a dumb question..

[PickedMyselfBackUp]

Ok so if you are HIV positive and your on treatment and your cd4 count is where it is suppose to be and you are undetectable does this mean That you would test negative or not if you retested? I have been sort of curious to that question.. I know that you are Not cured but I was still wondering what did the full extent of undetectable actually meant.. Someone please help.

[pauldecle Partner ForumLink]

HI PMB,

Firstly, No this is not a dumb question.

The short answer is no, you would not test as negative.

The longer answer is, being undetectable means, the medication has effectively reduced the amount of the HIV virus to such low levels in our blood, that the tests we use today cannot detect it.

The HIV test does not look for the virus it looks for the HIV Antigens or HIV Antibodies in the blood, see this article on the i-Base web site for more details about HIV tests i-base.info/guides/testing/...

Regardless of how low we can get our viral load, the HIV Antigens and HIV Antibodies remain in our system forever. This is much the same as mumps or german measles. We can recover from these childhood illnesses but the Antigens and Antibodies from these diseases remain in our bodies for the rest of our lives.

The CD4 count does not really come in to play in these tests, it is more of a marker indicating how well our own immune system is recovering from the attack from the HIV virus now that the medications are keeping it under control.

I hope this helps.

As Always,

Kind Regards,

Paul

[PickedMyselfBackUp in reply to pauldecle]

I thank you for that clarity... 😀 God Bless

[bad-monkey in reply to pauldecle]

This is why I like this forum. I am always learning and gaining info on this diease

[PickedMyselfBackUp in reply to bad-monkey]

Yes this site is really great.. However HIV is a Virus and not a disease.. May God continue to Bless Us All..😀

[1997begins]

As I under stand it, it means that your viral load is less, not that it actually can't be found in a blood draw, I've been non detectable for 15 plus years , my t-cells range from 1100-894 . The latter number being my last lab draw, I'm considered to be undetectable, but the virus is ever present,, my last viril load was <20. I hope this helps🌈

[PickedMyselfBackUp in reply to 1997begins]

Yes this helps very much... Thank you...

[Survivor83]

It is looking like the cure may come from the gene editing side of medical technology but for now the virus lies dormant in the organs even after we have gotten the amount of copies to undetectable levels in the blood. Also the breakthrough of stabalizing the virus wall so a vaccine can adhere to it is also very promising research which was just published last month. When I was diagnosed back in February 1984 I was given just two years to live and now 33 years later the prospect of surviving to see the cure may actually become a reality.