What does 'Undetectable' actually mean?

[fungayboy]

So on barebackrt there are loads of guys who say their status is 'undetectable' but what does that actually mean?

[hairyone]

It means that the HIV virus is less than 50 copies per milliliter of blood.  It does NOT necessarily mean ZERO.  Nor does it confirm how much HIV is in your semen.  

Having "undetectable HIV" significantly reduces chances of passing it on.  It does not eliminate it ENTIRELY. But it's pretty damn close.

There are other more sensitive blood tests that can detect to lower amounts but they are more expensive and not really necessarily at that level.

[fungayboy]

So means he has it but extremely low. Cheers

[Ranger Rick]

Also how is it that 90% of poz guys profiles on BBRT and A4A are "Undetectable" when the CDC says only ~30% of poz guys are Undetectable?

[Guest Deviantlad]

It is all down to the way that the statistics are viewed and analysed. 

[Guest]

For me, serostatus is pretty black and white. You either have HIV - it may be hiding somewhere in your system, but it's there and you're receiving treatment for it - or you don't. Regardless what a blood test says about my VL, I'm happy and proud to be poz, healthy and strong.

[tallslenderguy]

Here's some evidence based info for anyone interested (from the U.S. Dept of Veteran Affairs)

"A smaller study looked at both male-female serodifferent couples and male-male serodifferent couples who did not use condoms (and did not plan to use them). All of the HIV-positive partners in the study were on ART and had undetectable HIV viral loads. After more than a year, none of the HIV-negative partners had become HIV positive. 

The results of these studies show that if an HIV+ person is on ART with a completely suppressed HIV viral load, the risk of infecting an HIV-negative sexual partner is likely to be extremely low. However, there are some major caveats to consider:"

you can read the whole thing here http://www.hiv.va.gov/patient/faqs/transmission-of-undetectable-virus.asp

[dnvrbttm4loads]

google 'undetectable=untransmittible'   read the articles, watch the videos, read the conference precedings, see what people in charge of HIV treatment and prevention strategy are saying.