A person living with HIV, you have probaby heard a lot about your CD4 cell count and Viral Load.
The CD4 cell count is a measure of the number of disase-fighting cells in your blood. Your viral load
is the amount of HIV virus in your blood. These 2 measurements are very important becase they
help you doctor gauge how healthy you are and how well your HIV medication is working.
CD4 Cell Count Test
When you becomes infected with HIV, the virus invades a type of white blood cell (cell that help your
body fight off infection and disease) called CD4 cell count test measurer the number of
CD4 cells in your blood, and is a good indication of your overall health and how your HIV is
progressing. the lower your CD4 level, the more at risk you be for infections.
The test also canindicate how well you are responding to your current treatment; low CD4 counts
may indicate your antiretroviral medications are not working . Healthy adults have CD4 cell counts
ranging from 500 to 1450 cells/mm3; cointe of less than 500 mean that your immune system is
damaged. If your CD4 count is below 200, that means your HIV has progressed to AIDS.
Viral Load Test
By measuring the viral load, or amount of HIV in your blood, this test can tell you how well you're
responding to your current treatment and assess your chances of new infection. Peaple
living with HIV can have viral loads ranging anywhere from 1000 copies/ml of blood to 1 million
copies/ml. Someone with a hight viral load usually has a low CD4 cell count.
If your viral load is greater than 30,000 copies/ml, your doctor may recommend antiretroviral therapy.
A goal of this type of therapy is to reduce your viral load to the point where it is undetectable.
Viral load testing should be done every 3 to 4 mounts
