MAGIC JOHNSON'S HIV LEVEL RECEDES : AIDS VIRUS `UNDETECTABLE'.

Byline: Dara Akiko Tom Associated Press 

Powerful drugs have reduced the AIDS virus in Magic Johnson's body to undetectable levels, his doctors said Friday.

``Earvin is doing very well,'' Drs. David Ho and Michael Mellman said in a statement. ``However, we must emphasize that `undetectable' doesn't equal `absent.' It would be premature and incorrect to say Earvin is `virus-free.' ''

The doctors added: ``We are very pleased he has adhered to his daily drug regimen and that is reflected in his good health.''

Thousands of human immunodeficiency virus patients also have seen their infections recede to undetectable levels after taking drug ``cocktails'' containing protease inhibitors, approved last year by the Food and Drug Administration.

A patient with undetectable virus levels still can infect others. Even if the virus is undetected in blood or semen, it can be present in other areas, such as the intestines.

The 37-year-old basketball star played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1979 to 1991, when he disclosed he was infected with the AIDS virus. Johnson made a comeback with the Lakers last basketball season, only to re-retire after the team's elimination in the playoffs. He maintains a strenuous exercise program and plays exhibition games with the touring Magic Johnson All-Stars.

Johnson, during a break in practice with his team, told KCBS-TV (Channel 2) on Friday that he believes his good health is a result of prayers by friends and family and his own faith in God.

``If it wasn't for the Lord's blessing, I wouldn't be as healthy as I am now,'' Johnson said.

Just as Johnson's disclosure that he was HIV-positive drew enormous public attention to the acquired immune deficiency syndrome, activists hope that his progress will encourage people to get tested and take advantage of improved treatments.

``My concern is that people are going to think that Magic Johnson is the only person this is happening to, that he's cured, that there's a cure for AIDS, therefore, I don't have to worry about being infected,'' said Lee Klosinski, director of education at AIDS Project Los Angeles. ``I hope people get the message about how important treatment is.''

Johnson has been taking protease inhibitors, which reduce illnesses and lengthen life in some patients.

Nearly 90 percent of the people who take the powerful drugs within a few months of being diagnosed HIV-positive have undetectable levels similar to Johnson's condition, said Dr. Jeffrey Laurence, an AIDS researcher at Cornell Medical Center and a consultant to the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

``People are living longer, but we're measuring it in months,'' Laurence said. ``The number - `tell me how many years I'm going to get out of these drugs' - we're not going to get.''

As many as 40 percent of patients who take the potent drugs develop a resistance to them, either because the virus proves more crafty or because patients don't take the drugs as ordered.

The drugs, which are taken with at least two other AIDS drugs on a strict schedule, have side effects that include nausea, vomiting, headaches, backaches and gastrointestinal problems.

``The Lord has definitely healed Earvin,'' the basketball star's wife, Cookie Johnson, said in an interview in the latest Ebony magazine. Doctors ``think it's the medicine. We claim it in the name of Jesus.''

``I honestly feel that the Lord is going to heal him and that we are going to live together forever and have more children and be happy,'' she said.

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