A person living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) who has an undetectable viral load (under 200 copies/mL) cannot transmit HIV through sex. Reference
What is an undetectable viral load?
When copies of HIV cannot be detected by standard viral load tests, an HIV-positive person is said to have an “undetectable viral load.” For most tests used clinically today, this means fewer than 50 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood (<50 copies/mL). Reaching an undetectable viral load is a key goal of ART.
How do I stay undetectable?
People with HIV can get and keep an undetectable viral load by taking HIV medicine (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) exactly as prescribed. Almost everyone who takes HIV medicine as prescribed can reach an undetectable viral load, usually within one to six months after starting treatment. But treatment is not a cure. HIV is still in your body when your viral load is suppressed, even when it is undetectable. If you skip doses of your HIV medicine, even now and then, your viral load will quickly go back up. If you have stopped taking your HIV medicine or are having trouble with taking your doses as prescribed, talk to your health care provider as soon as possible about strategies to get your viral load suppressed.
Get tips on taking HIV medicine as prescribed
What are the benefits of being undetectable?
There are important health benefits to having a suppressed or undetectable viral load. People with HIV who know their status, take HIV medicine as prescribed, and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives.
There is also a major prevention benefit. People with HIV who take HIV medicine as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load will not transmit HIV to their HIV-negative partners through sex. This is sometimes called treatment as prevention or undetectable = untransmittable (U=U).
How do we know that Undetectable = Untransmittable?
Several recent scientific studies looked at thousands of couples undergoing HIV treatment. Among the participants in the studies who had undetectable HIV viral loads, none passed the virus to their sex partners.
Learn more about these studies by visiting the resources below:
