Viral Load Question

[pozinathens]

I have done some google searches but cannot seem to find the definitive answer I am looking for to this question. What is considered an "undetectable viral load"? From what I can tell, this means that your PCR test shows < 50 copies/mL.

I have a friend who was diagnosed this year and is not on meds yet and his doctor told him his viral load was 50,136. Is this considered low? Undetectable? Wondering if ,50 meant <50,000.

Any good resources to pass along to him?

My doctor always says my viral load is undetectable but I am unsure of the exact numbers.

[ad2san]

I think you'll find the info you need under http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/BloodTest_5030.shtml

[Inchlingblue]

The overall rule of thumb for what's considered a high viral load is anything >100,000 copies/mL

Your friend's viral load is not considered "high" per se but it could be called "moderate" and needs to be monitored. Depending on many factors such as length of infection, CD4 count, his or her general health outside of HIV, his or her lifestyle habits, etc., the viral load could go up or down or stay the same for a while, it's hard to say.

Basically a viral load <75 is considered to be undetectable. The tests for measuring viral load are getting more sophisticated so some people these days are getting an actual count of, say 30 whereas other versions of the viral load assay would just come back with <48 or <50 or <75 (all considered to be undetectable). Those thresholds just mean that the particular assay used can only measure down to that number (48, 50, 75) and is not able to measure any lower even if there might be some virus present.

Anything <75 when a person is on meds is, for all intents and purposes, considered "undetectable" because it indicates that there is no active viral replication and whatever virus there is is coming from the reservoirs.

The aidsmeds lesson considers anything <200 to be undetectable but, as they mention, it depends on the specific assay (test) used. If the viral load is being measured by an assay that can go as low as 50 and you are getting a reading of, say, 175, there could be some active replication there.

[David_CA]

When I get copies of my labs, I see <48 as 'undetectable', but I think it depends on which test is used.  I know others say <50.  Isn't 200 an older threshold?

(edited to trade a couple of >'s for <'s)

[Inchlingblue]

When I get copies of my labs, I see >48 as 'undetectable', but I think it depends on which test is used.  I know others say >50.  Isn't 200 an older threshold?

I think you mean <48 not >48, the little symbols can sometimes get confusing.

Yes, I'm pretty sure the 200 threshold was from when the assays for measuring viral load were less sophisticated. I think aidsmeds still uses that number because in certain parts of the world they may still only have access to the tests that can only measure as low as 200 and not any lower.

[pozinathens]

Thanks all for the information and links. This is exactly what I needed. It truly is appreciated.

[David_CA]

I think you mean <48 not >48, the little symbols can sometimes get confusing.

Oops!  I've certainly typed it correctly enough to know better... damned typos!  Thanks for catching it; it's now been corrected.