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Ask the Experts about Understanding Your Labs
HCV Viral load query
Aug 10, 2008
Thank you so much for this website.
My husband has had HCV genotype 1a for quite a long time. It was detected 3 years ago and his viral load in 2006 was 10,100,000 IU/ML
Last month, his viral load was tested for the 2nd time and it was 3,790 IU/ML, a 4 log drop.
His ALT last month was 37, the first normal reading in this 3 year period.
He is treatment naive and has not been on any medication during this period. Though he has been taking herbal suppliments and vastly changed his diet.
I am wondering if you have ever seen this before, and what you think it might mean?
Thank you so much for any insight.
Response from Dr. Holodniy
It would be extremely unlikely in the absence of HCV treatment or acute HCV infection that the viral load would have dropped that significantly. When you say a long time, do you mean he had the infection for a long time prior to 2006? If not, and he was acutely infected in 2006, these results could be consistent with recent infection. Otherwise a repeat test will sort out what the real number is.
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