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Published in the
Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS 1999 Year-End issue,
by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
Women
& HIV: Conferences Raise New Questions about HAART
Use by Women
Global Perspectives on Women, HIV,
and AIDS
Women
& HIV: The Experts Speak
Year-End
1999 Table of Contents
Main Page
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When Should Women Take
Viral Load Tests?
Kathryn Anastos, MD, proposed distinct timepoints for viral load testing
to optimize the information such tests provide:
- at serodiagnosis, to drive decisions about initial antiretroviral
therapy
- before changing or starting any new antiretroviral therapy
- approximately four weeks after starting or changing antiretroviral
therapy (look for at least a one-log or ten-fold decrease or, ideally,
an undetectable viral load)
- 12 weeks after switching or changing a regimen, which Dr. Anastos
called "the best time to detect the viral load nadir [the lowest point
to which the drug regimen will push the viral load]"
- every 3-4 months in people on stable therapy or in those not taking
any antiretroviral therapy [who, Dr. Anastos added, should be only
those with high CD4 cell counts and no detectable viral load]
Dr. Anastos offered a suggestion for people looking to switch therapy
because of unacceptable side effects: "Before switching, first achieve
a very low viral load to minimize the possibility of viral rebound,
because you get a better shot at suppressing the virus with a new regimen
if you switch when viral load is low."
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last updated 8 January 2000
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