When should you get the Viral Load Test?

Have a viral load test when you are first diagnosed and every three to four months when you are not on HIV therapy.

Have a viral load test before starting treatment and again two to eight weeks later. If the regimen is working, your viral load should drop by 90% within two months and be undetectable (less than 50 copies) within six months of starting treatment. If these levels are achieved, viral load is usually measured every three to four months.

If these levels are not achieved after starting treatment, or if your viral load has recently become detectable on stable therapy and keeps increasing, it can signal that your regimen isn’t controlling HIV as well as it should. You and your doctor should consider all possible reasons (problems with absorption, adherence, drug interactions, or drug resistance) and take steps to correct the problem, including considering changing drug treatments.

Some doctors also recommend that you have a viral load test two to eight weeks after changing your treatment regimen.