Viral Load

Hi
My wife, Cerese has today just returned from hospita after having a Liver Biopsy.
We were told that after her last bloods, that she has Genotype 1a and a Viral Load of 5000,000 iu/mm.
We really don't know what this means. Any advice or info would be really appreciated e.g. how good, bad or indifferent this is.
Regards to all
Jeff & Cerese

[big chuck]

results from bx is next. all blood tests mean is positive active hcv. Get bx results as soon as you can and you will have a much better understanding on where you are at.
big chuck

[louisep]

Hi jeff & cerese,
Hope you don't mind me posting but I just wanted to say that I had my first biopsy in October, the build up to it is pretty scarey isn't it?  But it was not such a big deal.  I'm 3a and my biopsy results were pretty good apparently.  I start TX Dec 1st.  I can't say I'm looking forward to it, but worse things happen at sea so they say.
Don't know if you've been on this forum before but it has been an absolute godsend for me.  Although I can't offer any advice or info, as its all new to me, there are some amazing people here with invaluable experience and knowledge.
Just wanted you to know, you're not alone and I wish you lots of health, wealth & happiness.  Good luck for the future.
Louise

[odessit]

<a href="http://hepatology2.aasldjournals.org/scripts/om.dll/serve?action=searchDB&searchDBfor=art&artType=fullfree&id=ajhep03600s3">Here</a> is a good article called <b>Management of hepatitis C</b> which explains a lot of things in detail.

[odessit]

Viral load of 5 000 000 UI/ml seems high, it means you have active desease going on. Genotypes 1A & 1B are hardest to treat - Sustained Virological Response(SVR) rate is close to 50%. Biopsy will tell the condition of your liver.

[suttjef]

Hey! thank you so much you guys for your rapid response to our query. Ooops! I made a mistake last night regarding the Viral Load, it should have been 500,000 iu/mm, am sorry, but was so tired last night, I spent all day in my wheelchair, but had to be at the hospital to support my wife Cerese.
Mmmm! Genotype 1a, so, its not good news huh!, Oh! well, I guess we will get over it somehow.
Thanks again for your comments
Jeff & Cerese

[odessit]

Hey!
500 000 UI/ml is MUCH better in terms of success rate. They say VL < 1 MLN UI/ml increases one's chances of clearing the virus along with age ( < 40 yo ), gender ( female ) and genotype ( non-1 ). Everybody is different, I saw people on this forum with favourable pre-treatment numbers who still couldn't clear the virus. On the other hand, many people who were genotype 1's and cleared!!!
Please post your biopsy results when available.

P.S. I myself is genotype 1B and do believe in cure:)