The blueprint that HIV uses to make more of the virus.
In this article. The HIV viral load is the number of copies of the human immunodeficiency virus in your blood and other parts of your body. The HIV viral load test involves taking a blood sample from a vein in your arm. The amount of HIV in your blood is then measured. PCR (polymerase chain reaction) uses an enzyme to multiply the HIV RNA in the blood sample. (RNA is the part of HIV that knows how to make copies of the virus.) This makes it easier to measure the amount of HIV RNA in the blood sample. A new ultrasensitive PCR test can measure down to 20 copies of HIV RNA If your viral load is determined to be undetectable, it means that the amount of detectable HIV RNA in your system cannot be measured using the testing methods available at this time.  Measurement of the HIV RNA level and the CD4 count is recommended at the following intervals: 1) at entry into care; 2) every 3 to 6 months to monitor progression of HIV infection in untreated patients; Clinical Background. Measurement of HIV-1 RNA plasma levels (viral load) provides quantitative measurement of viremia and is used in conjunction with CD4+ T-cell counts. The baseline (pre-treatment) HIV RNA level, combined with the baseline CD4 count, predicts progression to AIDS and death. In someone who is being treated for HIV/AIDS, it means that the treatment is not effective. During treatment and monitoring, a high viral load can be anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 copies/mL. A low viral load is usually between 40 to 500 copies/mL, depending on the type and sensitivity of the test used. An HIV viral load test is ordered when a person is first diagnosed with HIV to determine the number of viral particles in the blood. The test results function as a baseline measurement that shows how actively the virus is reproducing and whether treatment is immediately necessary. The HIV viral load test is used primarily to monitor HIV infection over time. It is a quantitative measurement of HIV nucleic acid (RNA) that reports how many copies of the virus are present in the blood. An HIV viral load test is ordered when a person is first diagnosed with HIV to determine the number of viral particles in the blood. The test results function as a baseline measurement that shows how actively the virus is reproducing and whether treatment is immediately necessary. Plasma HIV-1 RNA (viral load) should be measured in all HIV-1-infected patients at baseline and on a regular basis thereafter, especially in patients who are on treatment, because viral load is the most important indicator of response to antiretroviral therapy (ART) (AI).  Results of PVL tests are usually given as copies per milliliter (mL) of blood. PVL tests measure how much HIV RNA is in a sample of your blood. RNA is the blueprint that HIV uses to make more of the virus. Each HIV virus carries 2 copies of RNA. This means that if there are 20,000 HIV RNA copies per mL on your test report, 10,000 virus particles are present in each mL of your blood. The amount of HIV in your blood may change. The amount of HIV in your blood is called your viral load.. The lower the viral load, the less amount of the HIV virus. If your doctor knows your viral load, he or she can tell more about your risk of health problems caused by HIV infection. This result indicates that HIV is not actively reproducing and that the risk of disease progression is low. An undetectable viral load in someone who has a diagnosed HIV infection does not mean that the person is cured; it means only that the level of HIV RNA is currently below the threshold needed for detection. Changes in viral load can often be more important during HIV monitoring than a single test result. An HIV viral load test is ordered when a person is first diagnosed with HIV to determine the number of viral particles in the blood. The test results function as a baseline measurement that shows how actively the virus is reproducing and whether treatment is immediately necessary.
http://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/hiv-viral-load-what-you-need-to-know http://www.barebackhealth.net/health/viralload.html http://www.questdiagnostics.com/testcenter/testguide.action?dc=TS_HIV1_RNA_QuantPCR https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/viral-load/tab/test https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/viral-load/tab/test https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/guidelines/html/1/adult-and-adolescent-treatment-guidelines/5/plasma-hiv-rna-testing http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/diseases-conditions/hiv-and-aids/diagnosis-tests/plasma-viral-load-testing.html https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/viral-load/tab/test
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