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 Nkosi, it sounds like your viral load is “undetectable”. This means that there is so little HIV that the test doesn’t show it. It shows that your treatment is working very well. Please ask the doctor or nurse to talk about this at your next visit. This is good news :)
hi my viral load was 96, and tey sais it was 13900 mill copies, after 6 months went back for test it came back with 0 mill copies what does it mean
Hi Talent, your question is not very clear, but a CD4 count above 500 is very good. If the viral load test is undetectable on ART, this is also very good. Please ack the doctor to explain the results when you next see each other.
My CD4 is 626 viral load <25 viral log N/A viral interpretation undetectable what is the meaning of this I'm on ART
Hi Sbo, I am sorry that you are having trouble with the clinic. It is good that you are taking control in finding out information about your own health. Perhaps contact Treatment Action Campaign for support (http://www.tac.org.za).
Thank u for yo answers , i wiil talk to a Dr at the hospital on monday cs clinics in South Africa are total waste of time . They dont have time for the patients . And i believe in what ur saying about the resistance of the med . Even my kidney infection treatment also resist others i react to them . That is a heavy stress i ve got .
Hi Sbo, thanks for this extra information. If your viral load is 80,000 on treatment, then you need a new combination with new meds. You might have been unlucky and were infected by a virus that is drug resistant. Even though you have been good taking your meds, they would not have been working. In the UK you would be changed to a new combination.
Yes i started the treatment in June this year . My CD4 was 65 by that time , today it went up to 75 . At first they gave me Atrioza last month they change me to Odimune . I am really fustrated about my viral load course im taking my pill in same time everyday and im not sexual active . But at the hospital they found that i ve got kidney infection and i was admitted at the hospital , that was June . Upto today im still attending at the hospital due to kidney problem . So im confused .
Hi Sbo, the result depends on whether or not you are on treatment. If yes, then your treatment might have stopped working. If viral load is ont undetectable, you will usually need to change drugs. If you are not on treatment, then it is a good time to start. I am sorry the counsellor did not explain more.
My viral load is 80,200 and i was taken to a counsellor by the sister. I dont know why cause there was no explanation to me. Is this is normal results or do i have to worry about them ?