Question
What is a viral load?
6 December 2008. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load.
I am HIV +ve. My CD4 is 303. I see this website daily. It’s very useful to us. I have a doubt. What is viral load? In my CD4 report there is no any viral load count. Would you please tell me what is this? Is it better if the viral load is low or high? Please clear my doubt.
Answer
Viral load is the amount of virus that you have in a unit of blood. There is some detailed explanation about viral load tests and results here.
If you do not have the viral load results with your CD4 count, then it is better to ask your doctor the next time you see him/her.
In some poorer countries, viral load tests are not done as routinely as in the UK, and in some hospitals they are not even available, so this may also be a part of the explanation.
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