Question
My CD4 is 500, VL is 1000, is that bad?
21 January 2013. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load.
My CD4 is 500 and viral load 1000, should I be worried?
Answer
Hello,
Thank-you for your email. Can I ask if you have just been diagnosed with HIV? If you have, how are you coping?
Both of your test results are very good.
A ‘normal’ CD4 count for somebody who is HIV negative is between 400-600. In the UK HIV treatment isn’t recommended until your CD4 count is 350 or below. This is because while your CD4 count is above 350 your immune system is still strong, and you are very unlikely to become ill because of HIV.
Your viral load is quite low, which is good. The viral load isn’t such an important test result unless you are on treatment already.If you are not on treatment then the viral load result is not usually used to make any treatment decisions. The exception would be if your viral load was 100,000 or above, which can be a reason to start treatment.
If you are on treatment the aim is to reach a viral load of less than 50. This is usually achieved within 3-6 months of starting treatment.
For more information about CD4 count and viral load please see our Introduction to combination therapy.
Hi Dalla,
Were you on HIV treatment and undetectable when your baby was born? And what HIV meds are you taking? Sometimes a viral load test will come back above 50 copies. It can then go back down again, and it’s called a blip.
But are you breastfeeding your baby? Here in the UK it’s not recommended for HIV positive mothers to breastfeed. So if you’re breastfeeding please talk to the clinic about this, and about your viral load result.
My last clinic my viral load was undectable.
Now having a four months baby it’s now 288.
Am worried
Hi Kimto,
A viral load is 50 is classified as being undetectable, so from your last yest your HIV is under control. Yes its possible that there can be some change when changing meds.
hi just curious, i have been taking meds for more than 2 years now , the first 3 months of taking meds, ( december 2015 ) from having 10000 copies of vl, it became detectable ( 30 copies ) , then after 6 months it became undetectable .. its been undetectable for more than a year now but after that, when i changed my meds from stribild to genvoya, and the first 3 months of taking genvoya, it came back from being detectable , then after several months, it became undetectable again … but my concern was, last month, i had my lab works done, and my Vl shows 50 copies again and detectable , is there any reason for this? or is this normal to change? and is it bad or good? … i appreciate every answer thank you so much
Hi Arun,
You don’t say if you’re HIV positive. But if you are HIV positive, you should be on HIV treatment (ART). That’s because ART is recommended if you also have hepatitis B (HBV).
ART should include drugs that work against HIV and HBV. These drugs are tenofovir, emtricitabine (FTC) and lamivudine (3TC).
ART will keep your CD4 count higher and reduce HBV damage to your liver.
My Hepatitis B virus DNA load is 43 IU/mL.
SGOT/AST is 132 U/L, SGPT/ALT is 227 U/L,
SERUM ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE is 81 U/L,
HBe Ag Test value is .01 (negative),
HBs Antigen ELISA OD of Test is 1.714,
Ultrasound of whole abdomen is within normal limits.
My viral load is small but indigestion, weight loss (I’m underweight) & Tiredness problem is present. My doctor said that your viral load is small that’s why i can’t write medicine for hepatitis B.
What is the reason of my problem? please tell
Hi Lloyd,
Have you been on treatment for long? It usually takes a few months for viral load to get to undetectable, which is under 50 copies/mL. Please see this page from ART in Pictures. If you’ve been on treatment for a long time this could just be a blip. Please see this link for info on blips.
Please see this Q&A for more info on CD4 counts.
what if the viral load is 80 and the cd4 is 390 while on treatment. worried about my low cd4
Hi Harphy,
Its really not possible for anyone to answer this question. I hope within my lifetime, but we’ll have to see. For now we have ARVs. Theses are fantastic at keeping a person’s viral load suppressed.
When will HIV be gone forever