Question
What does CD4 and viral load mean?
5 March 2022. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load.
Viral load was 650,000. It’s down to 300. CD4 count was 250. Now it’s 307. I get confused as to what exactly this all means.
Answer
Hi, how are you doing?
CD4 count is a measure of how healthy your immune system is. A CD4 count of 307 is really good. HIV medication will help your CD4 count continue to rise. A healthy range for CD4 count is 430-1690, as you are a little lower than this it shows that HIV has damaged your immune system. However as your CD4 count is increasing it means that your immune system is slowly recovering. For more information about CD4 count: https://i-base.info/
Viral load determines how active HIV is in your body. A viral load of 650000 would suggest that HIV is not being managed and is active in your body. HIV medication helps to manage and suppress how active HIV is in the body. This is what viral load measures. The lower the viral load the better your medication is working. A viral load of 300 is really good and means HIV is being managed in your body with medication. It is possible for this to reduce further and become undetectable. For more information about viral load: https://i-base.info/
Josh.Â
Hi Biswajit, please see here for more information about CD4 count: https://i-base.info/ttfa/section-1/9-interpreting-cd4-results-cd4-count-and-cd4-percentage/
My cd4,count is 307