Malcolm, Thank you for asking that question. I don't know what an average viral load is for someone testing positive for HIV who is not being treated for it.
I found the following on www.aidsmap.com in the U.K. (NAM) 33,000 (copies per milliliter--not millions as I had said previously) is given as an average but this is a hypothetical figure: "HIV may have evolved so that the average viral load set point--around 33,000 copies/ml --seen in most untreated people during chronic infection is finely balanced between being the optimal for HIV transmission and the optimal for host survival according to a study published online this week in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." (2007) Concerning the viral load itself, from the same source (in all cases for persons not undergoing treatment for HIV): A viral load (HIV in blood) of between 100,000 and 1,000,000 is considered high Below 10,000 is considered low Below 50 is labeled "undetectable" I found comparable data from other sources. I found no data for the outcome of long-term untreated HIV infection (with low viral load), although there are many who have tested positive for HIV and who remain untreated or who are following alternative treatment protocoles. Most of the published material is funded by the drug companies who are manufacturing the very drugs used to treat patients for HIV and AIDS. However, those who have tested positive for HIV and who have never been seriously ill rarely begin the drug protocoles for HIV because of debilitating side effects. And those who are on the drug protocoles are afraid to stop the treatments. One woman who is taking "tri-drug therapy" told me as much; even refusing to change her treatment when her attending physician recommended she take a new anti-HIV drug purported to have fewer side effects. The information from www.aidsmap.com does show what you would be aiming for if you were using alternative treatment therapies. I hope this information is helpful to those on the list. Malcolm, I would be interested in knowing what you think. Carlene
