Still a good precaution. And definitely necessary for everyone for when life has returned to normal in like three years just in case you meet the love of your life and they’re positive.
Couldn’t share this fast enough.
Rebloging this to add a little more info because it’s very important:
Antiretroviral therapy when used correctly can cause the user’s “viral load” (your viral load is how much of the virus is in your bloodstream), to drop because the medicine prevents HIV from creating copies of itself.
Regular blood tests are done to monitor your viral load, and after taking the medication long enough, it can drop so low that it becomes “durably undetectable”. This means that the HIV virus in you has become so miniscule that it can’t be detected, and by extension can’t be transmitted either. It’s important to note that in order to be considered durable undetectable, you MUST test as undetectable for at least 6 months after testing as undetectable for the first time.
Also very important, being durably undetectable does NOT mean that you’re cured or that the virus is gone, not by a longshot. The HIV virus is still very much there, but instead of being active, it’s gone dormant in a small number of cells called “viral reservoirs”. This why it’s EXTREMELY important that even after achieving durably undetectable status, you continue to take your Antiretroviral medications correctly. Because if you stop, the HIV virus will reemerge from the viral reservoirs and pick up right where it left off in creating copies of itself, and you will have to start all over again if you want to become durably undetectable again.
This is great advice for people struggling with or know someone who has HIV.
Clarification: PrEP is for taking beforehand if you think you might get exposed (like you can take it to minimize the risk of transfer if your partner has HIV), and PEP (no r) is for taking after you’ve been exposed. Basically, PrEP is like the birth control pill, and PEP is the Plan B, but for HIV instead of pregnancy.
