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 Amanda,
The good news is this is not likely. Are you on HIV treatment (ART)?
Having an undetectable viral load on ART, means that HIV cannot be transmitted, even if you don’t use condoms. Please see Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) here.
An undetectable viral load usually means it’s under 50 copies/mL. But the Partner study used a cut off of under 200 copies, please see this link. There were zero HIV transmissions in this study.
What HIV meds are you taking? And have you been taking them a long time? Please let us know more about your treatment.
Good evening
Amanda, I’m hiv positive and my partner is negative,, my viral load is 79 we had unprotected sex.. So is it possible for me to infect my partner
Hi Amanda,
This is very unlikely. Please see the Partner study. This shows there were zero HIV transmissions to an HIV negative partner if the HIV positive partner is taking HIV treatment (ART) and has an undetectable viral load. Please see Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) here.
The Partner study used a cut off for undetectable of 200 copies. This means your result of 79 is undetectable for the Partner study.
Do you have access to your previous viral load results? Has it been undetectable and under 50 copies/mL? Please let us know.
Good evening, Amanda.
I’m HIV positive and my partner is negative. My viral load is 79 we had unprotected sex. So is it possible for me to infect my partner
Hi Kate,
It’s great to hear that you’ve been on treatment since 2017, that you take your meds on time, and that last year your viral load was 30 copies/mL. It looks like your meds have been working well.
What did the nurse say about your latest viral load result? It could have been a blip. A blip is when viral load goes above 50 copies/mL for a short time and then drops back down.
You can read more about blips at this link.
Please talk to the nurse and ask them to check your viral load again to see if it was a blip.
Hey m kate am still in shock went to the clinic the nurse told me that my viral load is 428 whilst last year it was 30 can you explain to me how it came to that because am on my treatment since 2017 and I take my meds on time
Hi Renzo,
Your viral load is undetectable, as it’s below 50 copies/mL. It looks like your HIV meds are working well.
My cd4 is 480 last june 28 2019
And my viral load is 40 copies/ml 1.60 log
Hi Angel,
When looking at results what’s important is the viral load and the CD4 count. Your viral load is classified as being undetectable because it’s less than 50copies ml, this means that your HIV is under control. It also means that you can’t transmit HIV when having sex without a condom.
Your CD4 count is good. It’s well within the normal range. Basically, you’re going great and your HIV is under control.
I tested positive in 2000. I am 44, female. I gave birth to a healthy girl in 2007. I only began ART in 2017 when my CD4 count was around 600. I do my full blood screening every 6 months.
My recent results a week ago indicate a CD 4 of 650, CD 8 of 1061, Cd 3 of 1704, Viral load <40, viral log < 1.6 , CD4/8 ratio 0.61
Please help me interpret the above numbers in plain English…