Question
What do my viral load test results mean?
5 January 2016. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load.
Please can you explain how viral load results mean?
I got my results back and I don’t understand them. It says log units is 2.777 and my RNA copies is 599 cp/mL.
Is this low or high? My CD4 count is 697.
Answer
Hi
Thanks for your question – and it is good that you want to understand your test results.
Sometimes this can be dfficult if your doctor has not explained them clearly. It is also okay to ask your doctor or nurse to explain anything that you are not sure of.
Viral loads tests tells you how much virus is in a millilitre of blood (or another body fluid being measured).
When not on treatment, viral load can range from undetectable to several millions. For anyone on HIV treatment (ART), viral load should ideally get to undetectable, This is defined as being less than 50 copies/mL.
Your test results are the 599 copies/mL, so your viral load is still detectable at 599.
The ‘2.777 log units’ from your test results is a slightly complicated way of saying exactly the same thing as ‘599 copies/mL’.
Because viral loads have such a huge range of numbers they are sometimes expressed in ‘log units’ to make it easier to write them on graphs and diagrams. Doctors and scientists use log scales to look at changes to viral loads over time. See this table of log units compared to viral loads in copies/mL.
Whether this is considered high or low depends on whether or not you are on treatment.
- If you’re not on treatment yet this is a relatively low viral load, which is a good thing.
- If you are on treatment, then if you only recently started ART, your viral load might still be going down.
- If you have been on treatment for more than six month, please talk to your doctor about why the results in not undetectable.
For more information about viral loads and how they relate to both treatment and infectiousness you can also have a look at the following links:
Viral Load and Treatment
Viral Load and Infectiousness
If you tell me if you are currently on treatment or not I can provide more individual information, Also, if you are on treatment, when did you start?
This answer was updated in January 2016 from a question first posted on 5 April 2012.
Hi Happy, please talk to your doctor and clinic about this. They might want to check how you are taking your meds and might retest your viral load. There is still time to try to become undetectable before the baby is born :)
Happy
I’m 7months pregnant with an HIV negative partner and my viral load has come to 800copies. Is this really okey with us including the fetus? Thanks.
Hi Fernando, it is great to hear how well you are doing on treatment. Your viral load and CD4 count are both excellent.
You have a lower than expected CD4:CD8 ratio because of the higher number of CD8 cells. You have a very high CD8 count. A normal range is between 150 and 1000. Has your doctor discussed these results with you?
How old are you? A lower ratio is considered normal in older people as it is a natural process. This is in conjunction to a raised CD8 count in the presence of a suppressed viral load.
Do you have any other infections that you are aware of e.g., herpes zoster or Hep B/C? While this can be normal, it is advised to speak with your doctor about this result as it can be a sign of other causes of immune system dysregulation.
Hello, I am under treatment ART, from september 2021 ( 1540 copies) undetectable since november 2021.
My CD- 4. is 1441 and my CD-8 is 2318, total linfocits 5005.
My CD-4 / CD-8 ratio is 0,67.
The goal of the ratio must be above 1, why is the “problem”? Should I be worried?