About the HIV virus
HIV is not a single virus but a family of viruses belonging to different subtypes and recombinants. HIV is broadly divided into HIV-1 which circulates around the world and HIV-2 that is localized in West Africa. There are at least 10 different subtypes (including CRF, circulating recombinant forms) for HIV-1. In Hong Kong, the main subtypes are B, 01_AE and 07_BC. Despite their genetic variations, there are no major differences between subtypes as regards their clinical course, treatment responses and complications. In other words, the antiviral treatment strategy for all HIV-1 subtypes is the same.
What does viral load mean?
Your doctor normally requests regular testing of viral load to assess the burden of the virus in the body. This is in the form of a blood test, and the reading is the number of copies per mL (millilitre) of blood. The level shortly after infection is very high, which falls rapidly to very low level after antiretroviral treatment. When the level is high it can be in terms of millions or more. The lowest is a value below detection of the equipment in the laboratory, which is often described as "under suppression". For simplicity the values could be denoted in "logs", e.g. 6 logs = 1 million. One log higher means 10 folds and 0.5 log is 3 folds higher.
Meaning of the viral load (VL) reading
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