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HIV Viral Load Test for Early Detection
I found out last week that I had been exposed to HIV via one sexual act with an HIV positive person. I have since had taken four different HIV tests. At about day 15 post-exposure, I tested negative on a third generation test. Four days later, I tested negative on both a rapid HIV test as well as on a fourth generation test that includes checking for the P24 antigen. Because I wanted to rule out infection during the window period, I also did a PCR Viral Load test. I do not understand the results which simply state "<40" and a logarithm of "<1.6". The range of the test is shown as 40 to 10,000,000 copies. Does this mean that they could not find any HIV in my blood, or could it mean that they found some but could not quantify it because it is under 40?
So, I was able to get the lab to explain how they document the results. This particular lab does not use the terms Not Detectable nor Low, But Detectable. They simply place the number on the results and my results mean that their test did not detect any virus. In addition, it is my understanding that viral load in the case of infection would be reasonably high 2-3 weeks after a new infection. So, I will not question this result and have accepted that my exposure did not result in infection. Certainly feel free to delete this entire post if it is duplicitious or unhelpful to others.
I understand that the viral load test is not typically used to screen for HIV. However, I was prescribed this test because I have a known exposure to HIV and wanted a method that would provide early detection at the 2 to 3 week mark. In retrospect, maybe I should have been more patient and simply opted to repeat the HIV 1/O/2 + p24 fourth generation test in a week or two. That being said, I have done some searches online about the viral load test and have seen references to a category called "low but detectable" and a reference to the tests lower limit. So, I'm not certain if my results mean that the test did not detect any HIV viral load, but the test has a detection limit of 40, so there is no way to be sure if the viral load is below 40 copies. Or, if they detected something but can't quantify it due to the limit.
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