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viral load blip
Mar 9, 2008
I hope you can shed some light on this for me. I have been using Kaletra and Truvada the past year and acheived undetectable VL within 5 months of starting the regimen. Recently, my VL went up 100 and when we retested a week later, it was up to 800! The doctor has looked at my genotype and phenotype tests and there is nothing there to suggest I'm resistant to anything that I'm on. Also, at the time of the most recent bloodwork I was suffering with a bad cold.
He believes that is what is causing this "blip". But isn't a VL of 800 a bit high to be a "blip"?
Thank you for your time.
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Response from Dr. Sherer
No, a blip has been defined as a viral load between 50 and 1,000 copies/ml, so you are still in the right range. More to the point, you have another explanation for a higher than usual viral load in this setting, i.e. a current viral infection.
I suggest that you remain calm and maintain your excellent adherence, and await the results of the next set of CD4 cell count and viral load. I also suggest that you talk you your doctor about your concerns and this response.
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