Test sensitivity

All hospitals in the UK now routinely use viral load tests that measure down to 20, 40 or 50 copies/mL.

Current research does not show a difference from using each of these tests.

Several research studies show that more than 50% of people actually have a viral load that is less than 5 copies/mL Although you may want to go as low as possible, 50 copies/mL seems to be the key cut-off.

Viral load tests have a three-fold margin of error. This means a result of 900 copies/mL could really be anywhere between 300 (3-fold lower) and 2700 (3-fold higher). A result of 90,000 could be anywhere between 30,000 and 270,000.

This is why it is important to confirm any unexpected viral load result.

Never rely on just one test result to make a treatment decision.