Help me translate this Viral load

[Jorah]

Hello There,

How does 9.34E+5 IU/ml translate to the hundreds of thousands I read around and is this high?

Thank you

[gnatcatcher]

Jorah, it's only 934,000 (less than a million). My highest VL was ten times that before I treated, and there have been people here with a lot higher VLs than mine. (VLs do have a tendency to jump around quite a bit, so one reading is just one data point.)

Just so you know, the +5 is telling you to move the decimal point five places to the right. Here's a free calculator: http://www.free-online-calculator-use.com/scientific-notation-converter.html#calculator

[KimInTheForest]

Yes. What Gnatty said.

FYI: "E" stands for "Exponent of 10". So E+5 is 10 raised to the fifth.

Not a bad VL at all.

kim

[Jorah]

Thanks both of You for the replies, I never liked math much. LOL
Good news that its not too high, hopefully that will help when treated.
Maybe the VL doesn't matter much before TX

This is what I was reading:

For each patient, the result can be described as either a "high" viral load, which is usually >800,000 IU/L, or a "low" viral load, which is usually <800,000 IU/L. Knowing the viral load before starting treatment is useful because patients with "high" viral loads can have a difficult time getting the virus to become completely undetectable on treatment. Patients with "low" viral loads have a better chance of getting their virus to become completely undetectable on treatment.

[gnatcatcher]

Don't sweat the fact that you're a little over the 800,000. Even though my VL was 10x yours, when I was tested after just 4 weeks of Harvoni, my VL was already undetected (which is the case with the vast majority of people taking the newer drugs).

[Mugwump]

Thanks both of You for the replies, I never liked math much. LOL
Good news that its not too high, hopefully that will help when treated.
Maybe the VL doesn't matter much before TX

This is what I was reading:

For each patient, the result can be described as either a "high" viral load, which is usually >800,000 IU/L, or a "low" viral load, which is usually <800,000 IU/L. Knowing the viral load before starting treatment is useful because patients with "high" viral loads can have a difficult time getting the virus to become completely undetectable on treatment. Patients with "low" viral loads have a better chance of getting their virus to become completely undetectable on treatment.

That statement was true with the older interferon based treatments. Having a viral load that is expressed below E+6 or in decimal terms in the millions, means that at the time of treatment your immune system is doing a good job of keeping up with the infection.

The newer DAA treatments do not rely upon the immune system and stop the viral replication so even those with high viral load at the time of treatment have a much greater chance of clearing. Now if you have a higher viral load the only thing that is considered is a longer duration of treatment. So those with low viral load are the ones considered for shorter duration of treatment.

My viral load when I was originally treated with Pegatron in 2004 was in the range of 6 million. And being infected with genotype 1a, I was given the full 48 weeks of interferon and ribiviron. I achieved a 2 log reduction of viral load at 24 weeks of treatment so the treatment was continued because I still had a chance of it working. At EOT I was weakly detected and by 12 weeks post treatment my viral load went through the roof to over 11 million. It took over a year to get back to work and the treatment almost hospitalized me with low blood counts. 2005 was hell on earth and it took long time for my immune system to get to grips with the virus again.

The most important readings are the key liver function ones that indicate how well your liver is doing its job. Having a viral load that is counted from a blood sample does not clearly indicate how much liver damage has actually been done by HCV nor does the reading accurately indicate the current level of infected dying cells in the liver.

You can have good liver function readings and a blood viral load that is in the millions or you can have cirrhosis, with dangerous blood chemistry and at the same time a very low viral load.

All the best
Eric

[Jorah]

Don't sweat the fact that you're a little over the 800,000. Even though my VL was 10x yours, when I was tested after just 4 weeks of Harvoni, my VL was already undetected (which is the case with the vast majority of people taking the newer drugs).

Ok Thanks very much.

[Jorah]

That statement was true with the older interferon based treatments. Having a viral load that is expressed below E+6 or in decimal terms in the millions, means that at the time of treatment your immune system is doing a good job of keeping up with the infection.

The newer DAA treatments do not rely upon the immune system and stop the viral replication so even those with high viral load at the time of treatment have a much greater chance of clearing. Now if you have a higher viral load the only thing that is considered is a longer duration of treatment. So those with low viral load are the ones considered for shorter duration of treatment.

Thank you for this info, I understand. 12 weeks should be enough.

Nice rainbow in your Sig pic. I also love fishing...its like meditation out in nature.

[Lynn K]

My pre treatment viral load was 2.4 million. Also a 4 time treatment failure with cirrhosis for at least 7 years before my last sucessful treatment.

Still cured 2 years post end of treatment

[Jorah]

My pre treatment viral load was 2.4 million. Also a 4 time treatment failure with cirrhosis for at least 7 years before my last sucessful treatment.

Still cured 2 years post end of treatment

Good to hear..