Reducing the proportion of HIV-positive people with a detectable viral load lowers overall transmission of the virus within a population, aidsmap reports. Researchers have long presumed this to be true; research in India confirms the presumption.

Publishing their findings in The Lancet HIV, researchers conducted a substudy within a cluster-randomized trial in 22 sites in India. The study included data collected about HIV status (including whether an infection was recent), viral load, awareness of HIV status, awareness of viral load and the reported use of antiretrovirals (ARVs) among 14,481 injection drug users (IDUs) and 12,022 men who have sex with men (MSM).

A total of 8.6 percent of the MSM were living with HIV, as were 19.5 percent of the IDUs. The MSM contracted HIV at a rate of 0.87 per cent per year, and the IDUs did so at a rate of 1.43 percent per year.

The researchers looked at the proportion of an entire community with a viral load above 150, the average viral load in people with HIV (community viral load) and the rate of people aware that they are living with the virus. They found that by far the strongest correlation between these variables and the rate of new HIV infections was in the proportion with viral loads above 150.

The researchers estimated that for annual transmissions of HIV to drop by 1 percent, the percentage of those with viral loads above 150 would need to decline by 4.34 percent.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.

To read the study abstract, click here.